Officer ‘filled with dread’ before Kaba shooting

A Metropolitan Police firearms officer accused of murdering Chris Kaba has told a court he was “filled with dread” and thought one of his colleagues could have died.

Martyn Blake shot the unarmed 24-year-old in the head during a police vehicle stop in Streatham, south London, in September 2022.

The officer denies intending to kill Mr Kaba and the murder charge against him.

Giving evidence at his trial, Mr Blake told the jury at the Old Bailey he felt he had a “duty to protect” his fellow officers on the night of the stop.

Mr Kaba’s family were in the courtroom to hear the police marksman’s evidence.

When asked by defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC why he pulled the trigger, Mr Blake, 40, said: “I had a genuine belief that there was an imminent threat to life; I thought one or more of my colleagues was about to die.

“I thought I was the only person with effective firearms cover at the time.

“If I hadn’t acted I thought one of my colleagues would be dead. I felt I had a duty to protect them at the time.”

Asked if his intent was to kill Mr Kaba, the defendant replied: “No.”

He acknowledged that taking a shot into the central body mass at that range could be fatal.

The court heard that Mr Blake joined the Metropolitan Police in 2008 and applied to be a firearms officer in 2015.

“It struck me as a challenging role with a challenging course. It was a very good course and a thoroughly good job. Best job in Metropolitan Police, working with the best colleagues,” he said.

Mr Blake said he was aware that it was possible that one day he may have to shoot someone as a trained firearms officer.

But jurors were told: “Every officer in the department […] thinks it will never happen to them.

“You hope it won’t happen to you.”

The jury was told police had been following Mr Kaba because the Audi car he was driving had been linked to a shooting in Brixton the night before.

He was shot in the forehead at 22:07 BST as he sat in the driver’s seat of the vehicle.

Moments before, he had tried to get away by driving forward and then reversing into a police car which had blocked him in, jurors were told.

The prosecution claim it was not necessary or reasonably justified for Mr Blake to fire the shot that killed Mr Kaba.

The trial continues.

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