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.
As energy bills become more expensive from today, respected forecasters have said they are likely to rise further in spring instead of fall, as first anticipated.
The energy price cap rises from January, bringing the cost of a typical annual bill to £1,738 – £21 a year more than from October to December.
Bills had already become more expensive from October, up 10% a year – or £12 per month.
But now the forecast dip in April will not materialise, according to energy consultants Cornwall Insight.
Instead, the firm said the cost in April is expected to rise to £1,785 a year for a typical consumer, nearly a 3% increase on January’s cap, about an extra £4 a month on the average bill.
Compared to the three months from July, it will cost £217 a year more, according to the forecast.
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Billpayers have seen energy costs rise every three months since July. Energy regulator Ofgem revises its price cap four times a year, setting out the maximum a provider can charge per unit of gas and electricity.
It’s assessed based on how much providers themselves are being charged to supply power and is intended to protect consumers and utilities.
Why are bills going up?
Continued volatility in international energy markets is behind the cost increases.
EU gas storage levels and uncertainty over the gas transit deal between Russia and Ukraine have contributed to “a level of volatility we haven’t seen for months”, according to Cornwall Insight’s principal consultant Dr Craig Lowrey.
The unknown impact of a Trump presidency on liquified natural gas (LNG) flows means the firm said its forecasts will “display a high degree of variability”.
These events resulted in higher wholesale prices which impact how much households are billed in the UK.
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Energy price cap rises again
These forecasts “could very well increase or decrease several times before the April cap is set”, Dr Lowrey said.
The official energy price cap announcement for the three months from April will come on 25 February.
Also influencing bills are possible changes to the standing charge, the fixed daily amount to receive gas and electricity.
Ofgem is consulting on introducing an option to include zero-standing charge options alongside existing tariffs, offering more consumer choice.
As of 31 December, Cornwall Insight anticipated a July price cap fall before an October rise.
The typical household could see major bills rise by almost £270 by April, Sky News analysis suggests.
The increase in costs for energy, water and council tax would outstrip inflation and add to pressure on family budgets.
The first impact will be felt from New Year’s Day, with the domestic energy price cap rising for the second time this winter.
A household paying by direct debit and using the typical amount of gas and electricity will pay an extra £21 – or 1.2% – a year, increasing their bill to £1,738, according to the regulator Ofgem.
But there will be more pain in April when energy analysts Cornwall Insight predict bills will rise a further £52 a year to reach £1,790. That’s an increase of 3%.
April will prove a tough month for struggling households.
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Water bills will rise by an average of £86 in England and Wales under plans agreed by the regulator Ofwat. Increases in Scotland are expected to be announced in the next few weeks.
And council tax is also expected to rise in April. Local authorities that provide social care can increase bills by 5%, without government permission or a local referendum.
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That would add £109 to the bill for an average band D home.
UK inflation is currently 2.6% – below the rise in bills.
The increase in energy prices will hit households at the coldest time of year, when many pensioners have had their winter fuel payment withdrawn.
It also comes amidst wider gloom in the UK economy.
Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show there was zero economic growth in the third quarter of last year, and businesses have warned the hike in employers’ national insurance contributions will hit jobs and pay.
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