Met Police marksman may have been ‘angry’ and ‘annoyed’ when he shot Chris Kaba dead, trial hears
A police marksman may have been “angry, frustrated and annoyed” when he shot Chris Kaba dead after he tried to escape, a court has heard.
Martyn Blake, 40, is on trial at the Old Bailey, where he denies murdering the 24-year-old in Streatham, south London.
Mr Kaba was sitting in the driver’s seat of a dark Audi with both hands on the steering wheel when he was shot once in the head on the night of 5 September 2022, a jury was told.
The car’s registration had been linked to a firearms incident after reports a man had been seen with a shotgun the previous evening and gunshots were heard in Brixton, the court heard.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC said Mr Kaba had tried to drive away from officers, hitting a police vehicle in an attempt to escape, but did nothing in the seconds before he was shot to justify Blake’s decision to pull the trigger.
“What he was thinking at the time only he knows,” the barrister told jurors.
“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.”
Metropolitan Police marksman Blake, who was previously known as NX121, did not know Mr Kaba, whose mother became visibly upset and was comforted by a relative as the case against the officer was opened.
The court heard on the evening of 4 September police were called to reports of gunshots in Brixton and that a man had been seen with a shotgun, while three men wearing dark hoodies had changed their clothes and got into two vehicles before driving away.
A registration number given for one of the vehicles was the same as the Audi Mr Kaba was driving the following night and a firearms “marker”, flagging the vehicle should police spot it, had been placed on the car, the jury was told.
Mr Little said the decision for armed police to stop the vehicle was “eminently reasonable and sensible”.
Jurors were shown a compilation of footage from police vehicles and body-worn cameras, as well as a computer generated reconstruction of the events.
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In the footage, a police car can be seen blocking the path of Mr Kaba’s Audi as it turns into Kirkstall Gardens followed by an unmarked police car and two other marked vehicles.
The Audi moves back a short distance, making light contact with the car behind, then moves forward, colliding with the police vehicle and a parked Tesla in a “concerted attempt” to escape, including wheelspins, as an officer tries to smash the windows.
The Audi is surrounded by armed police officers as the unmarked police car moves forward to stop the Audi, which reverses and makes contact.
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But Mr Little said officers were able to safely step away, adding: “Although this was a difficult and potentially challenging situation, at least at first, it was not as difficult and life-threatening as the defendant claims.”
He said “there can be no doubt” the armed officer intended to “incapacitate and, we say, to kill” Mr Kaba, and at “the heart of the case” was the decision-making of one man.
The prosecutor asked the jury: “Was this a case of mistaken belief as to risk or, as we say, was this an unlawful decision to shoot and to kill?”
“It was a decision to shoot which was taken when, we say, the unassailable evidence of what actually took place that night reveals that it was not reasonably justified or justifiable,” Mr Little said.
The immediate risk to Blake and his fellow officers didn’t justify firing a bullet into Mr Kaba’s head “at the point when the trigger was pulled”, the prosecutor added.
He said that in Mr Kaba’s driving forwards towards a police vehicle blocking his path there “was an element of initial danger”, but he only drove backwards a short distance before he was killed and no officers were knocked down or injured.
It was not obvious there was room for Mr Kaba to escape and if he had managed to get away, he could’ve been followed by police vehicles and the helicopter hovering in the sky, the jury was told.
“There was no real or immediate threat to the life of anybody present at the scene and at the all-important point in time when the defendant fired that fatal shot,” he added.
The trial, which is expected to last for up to three weeks, continues.
Weather warnings are in place for snow, wind and rain across much of the UK on New Year’s Day.
The start of 2025 will bring a “multi-hazard storm, combining severe gales, heavy rain and possibly significant snow as the rain runs into cold air,” said Sky News meteorologist Christopher England.
Pic: Met Office
The most significant snowfall on New Year’s Day will be from Donegal, across Northern Ireland and into the north of England and south of Scotland.
The wind looks strongest in the south, Mr England added, where 60mph winds are possible inland and 80mph gusts around the coasts of the Irish Sea.
The stormy weather continues on 2 January, with the Met Office issuing yellow weather warnings across England, Wales and parts of Scotland.
The UK has faced widespread disruption over the last few days, as thick fog descended.
Tens of thousands of passengers had flights delayed or cancelled, while drivers were warned about dangerous conditions with poor visibility.
Revellers are also set for a “wet and rather windy” New Year’s Eve, with the potential for a snowy Hogmanay in Scotland.
There could be some “possibly disruptive weather” on 31 December, Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said, with Scotland likely to see the worst of it.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for winds of up to 70mph that may cause travel disruption on New Year’s Eve.
The alert, in place from 7am until 11pm on Tuesday, covers most of Northern Ireland as well as north of York in England up to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Greenock.
The forecaster also warned that delays to transport are likely, with gusts of up to 60mph expected in most areas.
Those affected should check road conditions for driving and the latest travel information as well as preparing for in advance for potential power cuts.
A pensioner who is refusing to leave what’s being branded Britain’s loneliest housing estate has told Sky News he is facing bullying and intimidation tactics to force him out.
Nick Wisniewski’s ex-council flat in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire is set to be demolished because the local authority wants to redevelop the area, which has become a derelict eyesore.
The vast area on the outskirts of Glasgow used to have almost 1,000 properties, but slowly the bulldozers have moved in, creating huge mounds of rubble where homes once stood.
The land is overgrown, with all remaining properties boarded up – apart from the retired bank worker’s home, which demolition teams have been unable to touch as he refuses to budge.
Nick Wisniewski claims he is being bullied to leave his home
Rubble where homes on the estate once stood
‘They’ll basically need to drag me out’
The 68-year-old, whose neighbours were all rehomed in 2023, bought the flat in 2017 under the discounted right-to-buy scheme and is now mortgage-free.
He told Sky News he rejected an initial offer from North Lanarkshire Council of £35,000 plus two year’s rent as it would not be enough to buy a new place.
Contemplating a time in the future when he is forced out, he said: “By law they can smash my door down, they can come in here, manhandle me to get me out. That’s the law, and they’ll basically need to drag me out.”
Asked if he is prepared to go to that length to stop himself being removed, he said: “I am hoping it doesn’t come to that, but if it does then so be it.”
He reveals a compulsory purchase order process is now under way.
A compulsory purchase order is the legal power given to a local council to buy a property without the owner’s consent.
The legal battle will now be resolved by the Scottish government in due course.
There used to be almost a thousand properties on the estate
He said: “It’s been all intimidation, bullying, lies. They offered me £40,000 over a year ago. I thought they’d have offered me a wee bit more. I would accept, probably, £60,000.
“They had a meeting a couple of weeks ago saying that they are starting legal, which means compulsory purchase order.
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“There’s so many stages to that and it’ll take a while for that to come in to force.”
North Lanarkshire Council told Sky News it “completely refutes” any allegations of bullying or intimidation.
A spokesman said: “We are continuing to try and engage with the remaining resident and our focus is on progressing our ambitious plans to transform this area of Gowkthrapple for the benefit of the local community.”
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