Murder accused police marksman ‘may have been angry’
Kaba family handout
A Metropolitan Police marksman may have been “angry, frustrated and annoyed” when he took the decision to shoot to kill Chris Kaba, a court has heard.
Martyn Blake, 40, has gone on trial at the Old Bailey charged with murdering Mr Kaba, which he denies.
The 24-year-old was in the driver’s seat of an Audi car when he was shot in the head in Streatham, south London, in September 2022.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors that Mr Blake’s decision to use lethal force was “not reasonably justified or justifiable”.
He told the court: “The defendant did not know the man he shot. What he was thinking at the time, only he knows.
“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.”
‘Penned in’
Mr Kaba was being followed by police due to reports of men getting in cars after shots were fired in Brixton, south London on 5 September, the day before the shooting, the court heard.
Five police cars, marked and unmarked, were involved in the operation to stop the Audi when the shooting happened.
The jury was shown a graphic reconstruction of the incident depicting the Audi driven by Mr Kaba being “penned in” by a marked police car in front and three behind.
Mr Kaba drove forward into the side of one of the cars blocking his path and then back into a car behind.
At this moment Mr Blake fired the shot that hit Mr Kaba in the head.
The trial continues.
