A Metropolitan Police firearms officer’s account of the moment he shot Chris Kaba during a police stop was “false” in some parts and “exaggerated” in others, a court has heard.
Operational firearms commander Martyn Blake claimed he feared for his life and his fellow officer’s safety after Mr Kaba rammed a police car and reversed into one behind during a police stop.
In his initial account of the fatal shooting, Mr Blake said the “driver would not stop his attempt to escape at any cost” and he feared for the safety of firearms officers, who had surrounded the car on foot.
He said the driver “drove his vehicle at great speed towards myself and E156 [another officer] to escape”.
However, prosecutor Tom Little KC told the jury the Audi Q8 was being driven at speeds of 8mph and a maximum of 12mph when the driver struck the vehicles which were boxing him in.
He added: “It will be a matter for you to consider but in a number of material respects that account is false, we say, in parts and exaggerated in other parts.”
Mr Blake also alleged Mr Kaba was revving the engine after the Audi had reversed into a police car behind him, the court heard. “That is simply not correct,” Mr Little said.
Mr Blake, who claimed the car was being used as a weapon, also suggested in his account that Mr Kaba had made as many as four attempts to escape and an officer was in danger behind the vehicle.
“Well that is simply not correct and is an exaggeration at the very least in relation to what the actual position was around the vehicle,” Mr Little said. “In particular the suggestion that there was anyone behind the Audi wasn’t correct.”
When the shot was fired, Mr Kaba had his hands on the steering wheel and there was no suggestion he was reaching for a weapon, the court heard.
Mr Blake, 40, denies murdering Mr Kaba, 24, during the police stop in Streatham, south London, on 5 September 2022.
The court heard an unmarked police Volvo started following the Audi Q8 at 9.51pm because its number plate had been linked to an alleged firearms incident the night before.
Patrick Gibbs KC, defending, told the jury the Audi had been used by hooded men in a shotgun incident in Brixton less than 24 hours earlier. The suspects and weapon were still at large.
He said Mr Blake was in the position of providing firearms cover on the driver of the vehicle when he made the split-second decision to shoot.
“He [Mr Blake] was doing his honest best according to his training to interpret what he was seeing and anticipate what will happen if he didn’t fire in a 17-second incident of a danger and intensity I hope that none of us will ever have to comtemplate,” Mr Gibbs added.
At 9.55pm, police following the Audi declared a firearms incident and it was decided only armed officers would engage with the car and carry out a stop and extraction, the court heard.
In the minutes that followed, five further police vehicles joined a convoy behind the Audi, along with a police helicopter monitoring the operation from above.
Mr Kaba, 24, was aware the police were following him, the court heard.
Mr Little told the jury: “Just before the stop Chris Kaba was on the telephone speaking to a friend of his, Elisha Fizul. He told her that he thought that the police were behind him.”
Body-worn camera footage played to the court, from an officer identified only as DS87, showed the moment the police surrounded the Audi. The torch from DS87’s gun showed Mr Kaba with his right hand on the steering wheel and his left arm half in the air.
The vehicle was stationary when Blake fired his weapon, with the bullet perforating the windscreen and striking Mr Kaba’s forehead.
Mr Kaba was removed from the vehicle and officers commenced CPR until an ambulance arrived. He was taken to King’s College Hospital but pronounced dead at 12.12am the following morning.
“We say that the use of force was not necessary and that his [Mr Blake’s] version of events is false and exaggerated,” Mr Little added.
Mr Blake, who was formerly referred to as officer NX121, denies murder.
The trial, scheduled to last for three weeks, continues.
