Colleague of Met Police marksman accused of murdering Chris Kaba tells court he was also about to shoot the suspect

A colleague of the Met Police officer accused of murdering Chris Kaba has told a court that he was also about to shoot the suspect.

Chris Kaba, 24, was trying to escape police when Martyn Blake, 40, opened fire in Streatham Hill, southwest London, on the evening of September 5, 2022.

Blake is accused of murder after he fired a single shot through the windscreen of Mr Kaba's Audi which had been followed and surrounded by police vehicles.

The car had been blocked in by the police vans and Mr Kaba drove forwards to get away but was not moving the car when he was shot in the head, the Old Bailey heard.

An officer codenamed DS87, who was standing next to Blake when he shot Mr Kaba told the jury today that he had been about to take the fatal shot himself.

Mr Kaba's Audi Q8 had been stopped after police recognised the number plate as being involved in a shooting outside a school in Brixton the night before.

Blake, who was known by the cypher NX121, denies murder.

His colleague identified by the cypher DS87 gave his evidence on Friday but was called back to court after a juror sent a note asking if he had been about to take a shot at Mr Kaba and 'if not why not'.

DS87 said: 'The simple answer is yes. At that moment as you may appreciate I've landed and arrived and as my feet settle and I bring my weapon up you see the vehicle already in motion.

'At that point there is no doubt in my mind that the vehicle was going to come forward at any moment.

'It was by the actions of officer Blake that the vehicle then stops and then I don't need to take a shot.

'It is clear the vehicle has reversed and the only reason the vehicle is reversing is to build momentum to come forward.'

Mr Justice Goss then interrupted the officer and told him he had answered the question.

Prosecutor Tom Little, KC, asked: 'Was your assessment that if the vehicle had driven forward it would strike you in less than a second?' - 'Yes,' the officer replied.

Another police officer, known by the cypher AY3, also told the court that he feared his his colleague was going to be run over just before Chris Kaba was shot by Blake.

The officer, who drove an unmarked police Volvo that was behind Mr Kaba's Audi, described 'a very dramatic scene' unfolding as he saw an officer known as NX109 go towards the driver's door of the car.

AY3 said he had 'almost been taken under the wheels, twice actually'.

He told the jury: 'So my whole perspective and focus was on that side (of the car) and the officer, because it was a very dramatic scene.'

AY3 went on: 'He's gone forward to the driver's door, the vehicle, the Audi has driven forward, at which point it looked to me as though NX109 was going to get scooped up by the rear wheels of the Audi.'

As AY3 gave evidence and viewed dashcam footage from the Volvo and footage from his own body-worn camera of what happened, he realised that in fact two officers had gone to the driver's door of the Audi, first NX109 and then NX137.

Patrick Gibbs KC, defending, asked him whether police officers are asked to give multiple statements after incidents, because perception is 'inevitably' distorted.

AY3 replied: 'Yes.'

As the Audi reversed towards the Volvo for a second time, AY3 heard a gunshot. He told the jury he heard someone shout 'Shots fired', and then someone shout 'Head shot'.

AY3 then helped give CPR to Mr Kaba before paramedics arrived.

Under questioning by Mr Gibbs, he explained that officers do not train with vehicles shunting backwards and forwards, because it is too dangerous.

They are also advised not to go in a specific area at the front of a car called 'the triangle of death'.

AY3 told the court there was a risk of 'extreme injury or death' had one of the officers been dragged under the Audi.

Describing how officer NX109 had initially approached the driver's door of the car, he said: 'It looked to me as if he almost had hold of the door handle and as the car had driven forward I thought he's definitely going under, he's definitely going under the wheels.

'There is an extreme risk of extreme injury or death if you go under the wheels.'

Moments later a second officer, NX137, also approached the car.

'I think it was worse,' AY3 told the jury. 'I think his position... he actually seemed slightly closer to the vehicle, it looked more like he was going to get sucked in and taken by the front wheels.

'For me it was worse than NX109's original position.'

The court then heard from NX109, who was sitting in the back of the Volvo on the driver's side when Mr Kaba was hemmed in.

NX109 got out of the Volvo and tried to open the driver's door of the Audi, before it crashed into the marked police patrol car and a Tesla parked nearby.

'I put my hand... in the handle of the driver's door and it was at that point I hear revving and I can feel the car moving and I manage to remove my hand as the vehicle moves forward and collides with the Tesla,' he told the court.

The jury was shown the officer's body-worn camera footage where he can he heard shouting 'mind him, mind him' to his colleagues.

NX109 told the jury he could hear wheel spinning from the Audi and did not think it was going to stop. 'Having dealt with firearms incidents in the past if you see something that's perceived a threat you say it,' he said.

NX109 said it was 'an overwhelming feeling' to see dashcam footage of what happened for the first time.

'I was being pulled by the vehicle and just managed to get my hand out,' he told the jury. He said that a rubber knuckle on the glove he was wearing momentarily got caught in the door handle.

'I thought I was going to get pulled into the gap between the two vehicles,' he said.

He said he thought the Audi was going to manage to force its way between the marked police car and the Tesla and drive away.

The armed officers are not being named publicly and are giving evidence in court behind a green curtain.

Mr Kaba's mother Helen Lumuanganu and another family member were in court today.

The trial before Mr Justice Goss continues.