Marksman feared ‘one or many’ officers could be killed in Kaba stop, court told

A police marksman shot Chris Kaba dead believing “one or many” officers could be killed as the suspect attempted to escape at “any cost”, a court has heard.

Martyn Blake, 40, shot the 24-year-old in the head through the windscreen of an Audi car during a police stop in Streatham, south London, on September 5 2022.

Moments before, Mr Kaba had tried to get away by driving forward and then reversing into a police car which had blocked him in, jurors have heard.

Police had been looking for the Audi after its registration was linked to reports of gunshots in Brixton, south London the night before, the Old Bailey has heard.

On Thursday, jurors were shown body-worn video from various officers and a graphic reconstruction of the “enforced stop with extraction”.

After the shooting, Blake provided an account of the incident, claiming he opened fire because he feared there was an “imminent threat”.

Recounting events, he said that he had got out of his vehicle, moved towards the target shouting “armed police, show me your hands”.

He said: “At this point the driver drove his vehicle at great speed toward myself and E156 to escape.

“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 shot at the driver.

“He immediately slumped and the car stopped.”

Prosecutor Tom Little KC suggested parts of the initial account were “exaggerated” and “false”, having asserted that the Metropolitan Police officer’s use of lethal force was not justifiable.

Events began to unfold at 9.51pm when officers in an unmarked parked police vehicle spotted the Audi Q in Camberwell, south London, and began following it.

Blake, referred to as NX121, was the navigator in one of six vehicles which joined the police convoy before a decision was made to make the stop.

The court heard an operational firearms commander (OFC) had been concerned the longer they waited the greater chance the driver would become aware he was being followed.

Mr Little said the OCF was right as Mr Kaba had told a friend in a phone call shortly before the stop in Kirkstall Gardens where Blake and other armed officers got out of their vehicles.

Initially, Mr Kaba drove back and accelerated forwards in unsuccessful attempts to get away, colliding with two police vehicles and a parked car.

The police car behind the Audi responded by moving forwards to close the gap before Mr Kaba reversed into it, jurors were told.

Less than a second later, Blake, who was standing in front of the Audi, opened fire and shot Mr Kaba with a SiG Sauer semi-automatic carbine through the windscreen.

Cries of “shots fired, shots fired” could be heard on the body-worn video.

Mr Kaba was treated by paramedics at the scene before he was taken to hospital where he died at 12.12am on September 6 2022.

Mr Little told jurors that none of the decision making in the car stop was at issue, saying that in light of the reported shooting in Brixton the night before it was “eminently sensible and reasonable”.

He said: “Indeed you do not need to be concerned about any aspect of the decision making in this case other than the defendant’s decision to shoot.

“Nobody suggests that a firearms marker should not have been on the number plate of the vehicle that Chris Kaba was driving on September 5 2022.

“Nor does anybody suggest that anything other than armed response vehicles should have been deployed.

“In addition the decision to stop the vehicle and conduct a stop with extraction by armed officers was plainly sensible and reasonable.”

Blake has denied murder and the trial before Mr Justice Goss continues.