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

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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 was told.

On Thursday, the jury was shown dash cam footage from three police cars of the Audi as Chris Kaba was followed driving through back streets.

Jurors were also 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.

He went through points from a statement made by Blake in October 2022 that were not accurate.

Firstly the marksman said that there was a gap between the Audi and the unmarked police Volvo behind it, when there was not.

He suggested that the Audi was revving after it had reversed for the second time, which was not correct, and said it had moved forwards “at tremendous speed”, when it was measured at 12 miles per hour at its maximum.

Blake had also thought that one of his colleagues may be behind the Audi, which was not correct, the jury was told.

There was no gun in Mr Kaba’s hand or in the car.

Mr Little said there were “very significant elements of exaggeration” in his account.

He told the jury: “At the point at which the defendant discharged his firearm, the Audi was stationary. Chris 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 if he tried again (to drive through the gap) he would get through instantaneously.

“There was no firearm in that 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.”

But defending, Patrick Gibbs KC told the jury that it is common for officers to misremember details of fast-moving, violent incidents.

He said an “armed, hooded gang” remained at large after the firearms incident the previous day.

Mr Gibbs told the jury that the case will focus on the moment that Blake “squeezed the trigger”, and what he honestly believed the risks were at that point.

“The decision to shoot or delay in that split second fell on him.”

He told the jury that Mr Blake’s actions before taking the shot and after are not criticised.

“At that moment just as before and just as after, he was doing his honest best according to his training to interpret what he was seeing and anticipate what would happen if he didn’t fire in a 17-second incident,” he said.

The role of a firearms officer is “a job performed by volunteers who combat gun crime be it robbery, terrorism or gang warfare”, the jury was told.

He called on them to consider what it means to volunteer “to accept the terrible responsibility for deciding whether or not to use lethal force in extremis”.

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