Met Police Marksman Accused of Making Up Story to Justify Chris Kaba Shooting
A Metropolitan Police marksman on trial for murder is accused of cooking up a false narrative to cover his deadly shooting of Chris Kaba, a court heard this Thursday.
Officer Martyn Blake, who faces charges over the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Kaba through an Audi windscreen in Streatham, south-east London, on September 5, 2022, allegedly fatally fired following a high-speed police pursuit involving six vehicles.
Prosecutor Slams Blake’s ‘Inconsistent’ and ‘Exaggerated’ Account
Prosecutor Tom Little KC ripped into Blake’s credibility in his closing remarks at the Old Bailey. Little argued that Blake’s story about the incident was full of contradictions and overstated the threat he claimed to face.
“It’s difficult to see how anyone present at the scene could claim that the driver of the Foxtrot vehicle could have been killed. No one else suggested that,”
– Tom Little KC
Blake had stated in a written report hours after the shooting that he believed a fellow officer in a police SUV, dubbed the “Foxtrot” vehicle, had been killed when Kaba’s Audi collided with it. Little called this a falsehood.
Shot Fired Directly at Kaba’s Head – Not the Car
The big question: Was Blake’s decision to fire legally justified?
Little highlighted that the shot wasn’t aimed at the centre of the Audi, as police protocol demands, but directly at Kaba’s head. Crucially, no other officers on the scene reported feeling threatened at the time.
The prosecutor also crushed the defence’s claim that Blake acted in self-defence. There was no evidence the Audi was accelerating towards Blake or revving its engine before the fatal shot.
“No other officer gave any evidence that, at the point the shot was taken, there was any revving,”
– Tom Little KC
Evidence Shows Low-Speed Collision, No Significant Threat
The court viewed a scene reconstruction showing the Audi was driving just 12 mph when it struck the police SUV and became wedged. Little said the vehicle simply couldn’t have posed a serious risk.
He blasted Blake’s decision to shoot as “precipitous” and described his early statements as “deliberately false,” crafted to paint a dangerous picture where none existed.
“They are false statements that cannot be swept under the catch-all carpet of perceptual distortion,”
– Tom Little KC
Blake Denies Murder, Family Demands Justice
Blake, known in court as NX121, denies murder. His defence insists he genuinely feared for his life and that of his colleagues when he pulled the trigger.
Kaba’s father, Prosper Kaba, was present at the hearing, standing firm with family lawyers calling for justice for his son, who was killed months shy of his 25th birthday.
The trial continues as the jury weighs whether Blake’s actions were a lawful use of force or reckless killing.
