A Metropolitan police firearms officer may have been “angry, frustrated and annoyed” when he fatally shot Chris Kaba, 24, despite the suspect posing no immediate threat, a jury at the Old Bailey has heard.
Chris Kaba Shot Dead in Streatham
Chris Kaba was killed on 5 September 2022 in Streatham, South London, after a single bullet was fired into his head by armed officer Martyn Blake, 40. Blake denies murder.
Kaba was driving an Audi linked to a firearms incident the night before. Police stopped the car and surrounded it with armed officers after alleging an attempted escape.
No Immediate Danger When Shooting Occurred
Prosecutor Tom Little KC showed footage proving at least six armed officers were close to the stationary Audi when Blake fired. Kaba had both hands on the steering wheel, and the vehicle was “pinned in” by police cars.
Little told the jury there was no “imminent danger” to officers at the moment Blake opened fire. He suggested Blake’s anger and frustration at Kaba’s efforts to escape by driving forwards and backwards contributed to the fatal shot.
“Chris Kaba had made a previous attempt to escape by driving forwards, had failed, and now he had far less space to accelerate forwards. We say that, on careful analysis of all of the evidence, nothing Chris Kaba did in the seconds before he was shot justified this defendant’s decision to shoot,” said Little.
He added: “He shot him once straight to the head. He was trained to use a firearm and, if necessary, to shoot, knowing that almost inevitably death would follow. The defendant did so when Chris Kaba was sitting in the driver’s seat of an Audi with both of his hands on the steering wheel.”
Fatal Shot Fired After Vehicle Became Stationary
Little emphasised that Kaba’s car was effectively trapped and posed no real threat when Blake pulled the trigger.
He explained the vehicle’s initial slow movements caused “an element of initial danger,” but no officers were injured. Kaba then reversed before coming to a stop. It was after the Audi stopped that Blake fired the fatal shot.
“Just after the Audi became stationary, the defendant decided to shoot Chris Kaba. He should not, we say on all the evidence, have done so,” Little argued.
Family Watch as Case Unfolds
Kaba’s family, including his parents, was in court, sitting close to Blake as the prosecution laid out its case to a jury of nine men and three women.
Officers had been tracking the Audi since 9:51 pm on Camberwell Church Street after linking it to a firearms incident in Brixton. The car was followed before being stopped on Kirkstall Gardens, where the shooting occurred.
Little concluded: “The cause of his death was a single gunshot wound to the head with associated catastrophic traumatic brain injury.”
The trial continues.
