Dashcam footage shows Chris Kaba's final journey before being shot dead by Met Police cop

Dashcam footage released today shows Chris Kaba's final journey before he was shot dead by an armed Met Police officer.

The recording from an unmarked police car shows the winding route Mr Kaba, 24, took before his Audi Q8 was stopped by armed officers on September 5 2022. Within seconds of a tactical unit executing a stop, Mr Kaba was killed with a single gunshot to the forehead.

The footage was today shown to jurors at the Old Bailey for the trial of firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, who is accused of murdering Mr Kaba. Blake denies murder. During the four-minute recording, Mr Kaba is seen pulling into Kirkstall Garden in Streatham, south London, where he is met by police officers.

Prosecutors say Mr Kaba tried to ram police cars that blocked his path - but that Blake's decision to kill Mr Kaba was "not justified". Tom Little KC said the decision has suggested he acted after becoming "angry, frustrated and annoyed" that his orders were not "obeyed".

Jurors today heard Blake said he jumped from his marked BMW X5 and aimed his .223 Remington semi-automatic rifle at Mr Kaba. He said he pointed the weapon's green laser dot in Mr Kaba's direction in a desperate bid to make his stop, believing he was aiming at his chest, the court heard.

But he said he fired a single shot which hit Mr Kaba's forehead because there was "a loud sound of an engine revving at the top of its range" and he "was feeling quite frightened and filled with dread at that stage". Prosecutors say Mr Kaba's vehicle - which had been linked to a gunshot incident the previous night - was "penned in", the engine was not revving and he could not escape the situation.

But in an initial account to his superiors, Blake said: "I had a genuine belief that either of us could be killed and moved right out of the way. The driver then rammed our car, which was behind me as well as a parked car and stopped, wedged. Seeing the car was stopped I went round to the front and again challenged the driver saying something like, 'Armed police, stop the vehicle', at this point the driver reversed back at great speed as fast as he could, directly towards my colleagues who were out on foot approaching the vehicle.

"The male had already shown a propensity to use violence and was happy to use any means to escape and I had a genuine held belief that one or many of my colleagues could be killed by the car, and that the driver would not stop his attempt to escape at any cost.

"I then made the decision to incapacitate the driver due to the imminent threat to my colleagues and took one aimed shot at the driver. He immediately slumped and the car stopped.” Jurors were told Blake said he felt "at grave risk of serious injury by virtue of the ramming of our vehicle and could easily have been killed due to the ferocity of the impact of the Audi moving forward".

He said it was "his belief was that if he had not discharged his weapon to incapacitate the driver he would have watched one or more colleagues die and would have failed in his duty to them in accordance with his training". Blake said he fired his weapon, hoping it would "make contact with the driver's chest".

However, prosecutors claim Blakes' version of the shooting was "false" and "exaggerated". They claimed Mr Kaba's vehicle reached a maximum speed of just 12mph during the confrontation and the engine was not revving. Mr Little KC told the court: "Mr Kaba’s hands were on the wheel and were visible to the defendant.

"There was no revving as described, there was no potential firearm in his hand, and it was far from certain that he would try again to drive through a gap given that he had failed to get through the gap before. There was no firearm in the vehicle and the defendant does not suggest that there was any movement by him of his hands to make him think that he was reaching for a firearm."

The court was told Blake had not activated his body worn camera, but pushed the device's button "seconds after he discharged his firearm". However, "the prior 60 seconds of footage on the camera are automatically captured", Mr Little told jurors. Patrick Gibbs KC, defending, implored the jury to make up their minds after hearing Blake's evidence.

He said it was accepted that Blake's actions before he "squeezed the trigger" and immediately after were "proper and lawful". And he told the jury: "[Blake] was doing his honest best, according to his training, to interpret what he had seen and understand what could happen if he didn't fire in that 17-second incident of a danger and intensity I hope that none of us will ever have to contemplate.

"You will have to look at any evidence of anger, annoyance or frustration on the behalf of Mr Blake." He said Blake had "volunteered and agreed to accept the terrible responsibility of whether to use lethal force". Blake denies murder. The trial at the Old Bailey continues.