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.
The family of a 10-year-old girl killed by their pet dog say they are “utterly shocked and devastated” by her death.
North Yorkshire Police have named Savannah Bentham, from the Malton area, as the child killed in the dog attack on Friday.
Police say initial enquiries suggest the attack was out of character, with Savannah having had “a close, loving relationship” with the canine.
In a statement, Savannah’s family said they “can’t believe we have lost our wonderful girl who we love so much”.
“We thank everyone for their support and kindness as we struggle to come to terms with our loss,” they added.
The family have asked for their privacy to be respected as they grieve for Savannah.
Officers were called to the area by ambulance crews at 4.15pm on Friday.
Savannah had suffered what police say were serious injuries, having been bitten by the dog.
Officers say Savannah died at the scene, despite the best efforts of medical professionals.
A member of the public had also come to the family’s aid, the force said in a statement.
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Police are continuing to investigate the attack, including finding an explanation, as far as possible, as to why the dog attacked Savannah.
Police have also confirmed the dog will be destroyed due to the nature of the attack.
Officers are continuing to support Savannah’s family and they have asked the public not to speculate.
An increase in university tuition fees in England is expected to be announced for the first time in more than seven years, Sky News understands.
Fees have been frozen at an annual level of £9,250 since the 2017/18 academic year, but the government is expected to lift the cap so they can rise in line with inflation.
That will increase the cost of tuition to £9,500 in October 2025 and £10,500 by 2029.
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It’s expected that Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will confirm the move in a House of Commons statement later today.
Any such announcement is likely to provoke a strong backlash, given Sir Keir Starmer had pledged to abolish tuition fees when he stood to be Labour leader in 2020.
The prime minister rowed back on that promise early last year, saying it was no longer affordable because of the “different financial situation” the country was in, and he was choosing to prioritise the NHS.
However at the time he said Labour would set out a “fairer solution” for students if it won the election.
Bridget Phillipson. Pic: Reuters
The change comes as universities have been dealing with a funding crisis, largely driven by a huge drop in overseas students.
Rules brought in by Rishi Sunak’s government made it harder for international students, who pay higher fees than British ones, to bring their families with them to the UK.
Universities have been pleading for more investment, but Ms Phillipson said recently that institutes should seek to manage their own budgets before hoping for a bailout from the taxpayer.
When she was in opposition, she also touted the idea of reducing the monthly repayments “for every single graduate” by changing how the loan is paid back.
Writing in The Times in June 2023 she had said: “Reworking the present system gives scope for a month-on-month tax cut for graduates, putting money back in people’s pockets when they most need it.”
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However the idea didn’t make it into Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which only says that “the current higher education funding settlement does not work for the taxpayer, universities, staff, or students”.
It adds: “Labour will act to create a secure future for higher education and the opportunities it creates across the UK.”
Independent MP Zara Sultana, who lost the Labour whip after rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, called the latest development “wrong”.
“It’s time to abolish tuition fees and cancel student debt because education is a public good, not a commodity,” she posted on X.
‘Maintenance loans bigger issue’
However, money saving expert Martin Lewis said higher fees won’t necessarily lead to students facing higher yearly repayments, as that “solely depends on what you earn not on what you borrow”.
In a thread on X he said a more damaging policy was the Tories’ decision last year to drop the salary threshold at which repayments must be made – from £27,000 to £25,000 – and increase the time to clear the loan before it is written off, from 30 to 40 years.
He said: “Increasing tuition fees will only see those who clear the loan in full over the 40yrs pay more. That is generally mid-high to higher earning university leavers only, so the cost of increasing them will generally be born by the more affluent.”
He added that a bigger problem for students is the fact maintenance loans “aren’t big enough” and “have not kept pace with inflation”.
University fees of £1,000 per year were first introduced by the Labour government in 1998, going up to £3,000 in 2006.
The Coalition government then tripled the amount to £9,000 in 2012, sparking a huge backlash, particularly against the Lib Dems who had vowed to scrap fees in the 2010 general election campaign.
Since then there have been further changes to student finance such as the abolition of maintenance grants and NHS bursaries, moving student support increasingly away from non-repayable grants and towards loans.
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