‘Angry’ Met marksman ‘unjustifiably shot rapper Chris Kaba in the head with intent to kill as he sat in stationary car’
A “FRUSTRATED” Met Police marksman “unjustifiably” shot a rapper in the head with the intent to kill as he sat in a stationary car, a court heard.
Kaba, 24, was killed by a single gunshot following a pursuit in Streatham, South London, on September 5, 2022.
He had been trying to escape a police “hard stop” in his Audi when firearms officer Martyn Blake shot through his windscreen.
Jurors heard the decision to shoot Kaba, who was months away from becoming a dad, was “not reasonably justified or justifiable”.
Blake, 40, has gone on trial at the Old Bailey charged with murder, which he denies.
Opening the case today, Prosecutor Tom Little KC said it should be a “remedy of last resort” for a firearms cop to shoot and kill.
But he added: “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.”
The Old Bailey was told Blake may have become “angry, frustrated and annoyed” by Kaba refusing to obey requests made by the police.
He had been stopped on the residential street as his Audi had been linked to reports of a shooting in Brixton the night before, it was said.
Jurors heard he had at one point reversed a short distance backwards – striking the front of a police car that was blocking him in.
Kaba had also previously attempted to drive forwards but there was not enough space to get through.
But the court was told that at the point the rapper was shot, his car was stationary.
Mr Little said: “There can be no doubt that the defendant must have intended to incapacitate and we say, to kill Chris Kaba.
“He shot him once straight to the head. He was trained to use a firearm and if necessary to shoot knowing that almost inevitably death would follow and that is what he did.
“The defendant did this when Chris Kaba was sitting in the driver’s seat of an Audi motor vehicle with both of his hands on the steering wheel.”
The prosecutor said Kaba did nothing in the second he was shot that “justified this defendant’s decision to shoot”.
Kaba’s mum was comforted by family members as the case was opened this afternoon.
Blake denies murder and the trial continues.