Met officer accused of murder 'may have been angry'

Chris Kaba died from a single gunshot wound

A Metropolitan Police marksman may have been "angry, frustrated and annoyed" when he took the decision to shoot to kill Chris Kaba, a court has heard.

Martyn Blake, 40, has gone on trial at the Old Bailey charged with murdering Mr Kaba, which he denies.

The 24-year-old was in the driver's seat of an Audi car when he was shot in the head in Streatham, south London, in September 2022.

Prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors that Mr Blake's decision to use lethal force was "not reasonably justified or justifiable".

He told the court: "The defendant did not know the man he shot. What he was thinking at the time, only he knows.

"But you may want to consider in this case whether the requests that were made to Chris Kaba by the police that he did not obey caused the defendant to become angry, frustrated and annoyed."

'Penned in'

Mr Kaba was being followed by police due to reports of men getting in cars after shots were fired in Brixton, south London on 5 September, the day before the shooting, the court heard.

Five police cars, marked and unmarked, were involved in the operation to stop the Audi when the shooting happened.

The trial is being heard at the Old Bailey in front of Judge Mr Justice James Goss

The jury was shown a graphic reconstruction of the incident depicting the Audi driven by Mr Kaba being "penned in" by a marked police car in front and three behind.

Mr Kaba drove forward into the side of one of the cars blocking his path and then back into a car behind.

At this moment Mr Blake fired the shot that hit Mr Kaba in the head.

'Remedy of last resort'

Mr Little told the jury: "Nothing Chris Kaba did in the seconds before he was shot justified the defendant's decision to shoot."

"There was no real or immediate threat to the life of anybody present at the scene," he said.

"At the heart of this case is the decision making of one man, and that is the defendant."

He said the jury would have to decide "was this a case of mistaken belief as to risk, or as we say, was this an unlawful decision to kill".

It should be a "remedy of last resort" for a firearms officer to shoot and kill, jurors were told.

Tom Little KC said the trial was centred on Mr Blake's decision making

The prosecutor said: "The body-worn footage and footage from cameras on police vehicles reveals, we say, that it was not necessary to shoot.

"The immediate risk to both the defendant and his fellow officers at the scene did not, we say, justify at the point when the trigger was pulled, firing a bullet into the vehicle that Chris Kaba was driving.

"That is why, we say, that this is a case of murder rather than the use of lawful self-defence or lawful defence of another by the defendant."

At the point Mr Blake shot Mr Kaba in the head, the vehicle he was in was stationary, jurors heard.

Helen Lumuanganu (left) was comforted as she arrived for the trial opening

Members of Mr Kaba's family, including his parents, sat in the well of the court just metres from Mr Blake in the dock, as Mr Little laid out the case for the prosecution.

Mr Kaba's mother Helen Lumuanganu became visibly upset and was comforted by a relative as video footage of armed officers swarming around the Audi was played in court.

Mr Little said that the situation was difficult and challenging, but added: "The reality is that the defendant discharged his firearm at the point that the vehicle that Chris Kaba was in was stationary and when there were no officers directly behind the vehicle and the prospect of him being able to escape was not obvious."

A firearm marker was placed on the Audi after its registration was linked to an incident the evening before in which members of the public had contacted police to report gunshots in Brixton, the court was told.

The trial continues.