A UK POLICE officer went on trial last Wednesday (2), charged with the murder of a black man in London two years ago.
Firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, denied the charge of murdering Chris Kaba, 24, who was shot in the head on September 5, 2022.
Prosecutors told the Old Bailey that the shooting was “not reasonably justified or justifiable.”
Kaba was struck by a single gunshot fired into the vehicle he was driving in the Streatham area of south London. His car, linked to a firearms incident the previous day, was being followed by police and forced to a stop.
The jury heard that Kaba was trying to drive away from police when the incident occurred. However, the prosecution argued that there was “no real or immediate threat to the life of anybody present at the scene.”
“There can be no doubt you may think that the defendant must have intended to incapacitate the driver of the vehicle... He shot him once straight to the head,” said prosecution lawyer Tom Little.
“He was trained to use a firearm and, if necessary, to shoot knowing that almost inevitably death would follow, and that is what he did.”
A fellow firearms officer, who raised his gun at the same time as Blake, told the jury he feared for his life and believed he was about to be run over.
The officer, identified as DS87, testified: “I have got no doubt in my mind, given a moment longer, the Audi would have come forward and I would have gone under.”
When asked what he thought as his colleague opened fire, DS87 said: “I felt in fear for my life. Had the actions not been taken at that point, I would have died or been injured.”
Police in England, Scotland, and Wales are not routinely armed, with only a small proportion authorised to carry firearms.
Police prosecutions are rare, and when London police announced Blake was being charged last year, dozens of his colleagues stepped back from firearm duties in protest.
The trial continues.
Kulsuma Aktergetty images