Shropshire Star

The police marksman on trial for killing Chris Kaba was no “RoboCop” with the “nanosecond” reactions of a computer, a court has heard.

Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake shot 24-year-old Mr Kaba in the head through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 which had been linked to a shotgun incident the night before.

The Old Bailey has heard how unarmed Mr Kaba knew the police were following him and when surrounded by armed response vehicles had tried to smash and ram his way out.

The police officer who shot Chris Kaba dead says he understands the “distress” caused to his family but that his actions were “lawful, proportionate and necessary” as he was trying to save the lives of his colleagues, a jury has heard.

The comments by marksman Martyn Blake are in statements he made as the Metropolitan Police and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) began investigating the September 5 2022 shooting.

“Loud screeching” sounded a warning for a firearms officer who leapt away moments before the driver of a suspect car was fatally shot by a colleague, a court has heard.

Martyn Blake, 40, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murdering 24-year-old Chris Kaba who was shot through the front windscreen of an Audi during an armed police stop.

Jurors have heard how Mr Kaba had been driving forwards and back in an attempt to ram his way out after being blocked in by armed response vehicles in Streatham, south London.

A police driver feared his colleague was going to be run over just before Chris Kaba was shot by a Metropolitan Police marksman, a court has heard.

The officer, known only by the cypher AY3, described “a very dramatic scene” unfolding as he gave evidence at the Old Bailey on Monday.

Fellow armed officer Martyn Blake, 40, is on trial for the murder of Mr Kaba in Streatham, south-east London, on September 5 2022.

A firearms officer who raised his gun in the same second a colleague shot Chris Kaba during a police vehicle stop told jurors he feared he would be run over and killed.

The Metropolitan Police officer, referred to as DS87, was standing beside Martyn Blake when he opened fire on the unarmed driver of a suspect Audi car on the evening of September 5 2022.

The blue Audi had been used as the “getaway” car after shots were fired outside a school in Brixton the night before – and neither shotgun nor suspects had been found, jurors were told.

A man has been found guilty of a fatal shooting less than a year after being cleared of another killing.

In April 2023, 22-year-old Tyrese Miller was shot in the chest at close range.

Drug dealer Denzel Kwateng has been cleared of the murder but convicted of manslaughter after the jury deliberated for more than 41 hours.

In 2022, the 22-year-old was cleared over the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Denardo Samuels-Brooks following an Old Bailey trial.

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder and arson after a man died following a suspicious house fire in south London.

The Metropolitan Police were called by London Fire Brigade to a multi-occupancy house in Glenister Park Road, Streatham, shortly after 7pm on Sunday, where they found a 49-year-old man dead inside.

On Monday a 34-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murder and arson with intent to endanger life.

She remains in custody at a south London police station.

A group of local residents blocked cars on a road in south London as part of a protest against the area becoming a Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN).

Valley Road is part of a group of streets that make up Lambeth Council’s Streatham Wells Low Traffic Neighbourhood trial.

As part of the trial, only buses and taxis are able to enter Valley Road from both ends, with motorists who take the same route facing a fine of £130 from next Monday.