‘I did not intend to kill him,’ Met Police officer who shot Chris Kaba tells court

The Metropolitan police officer who shot Chris Kaba has told a jury he did not intend to kill him when he opened fire.

Blake denies murdering 24-year-old Chris Kaba, who was shot in the head through the windscreen of a car window, during an armed police operation in Streatham, south London, in September 2022.

Mr Blake is accused of murder, which he denies.

He claims the Audi car was being drive towards him and speaking to the court on Monday, he 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."

On Monday the court heard that when hemmed in by police cars, Mr Kaba drove an Audi forwards and backwards in an attempt to escape.

The jury has already been told that the car was travelling at around 8mph in reverse and that the airbags in the Volvo did not go off when it was hit.

In his second day of giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Mr Blake told the court that he had not intended to kill.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Tom Little KC on Tuesday, Mr Blake said: “I aimed my firearm at the central body mass as we are trained to do, over the steering wheel.

“Obviously I was aware that the bullet would hit his body at some point but I didn’t intend to kill.”

He went on: “It was the only way I thought I had at the time to stop the vehicle.”

The officer added: “If I had fired and the vehicle had stopped I would not have fired again.”

Mr Little said the “supersonic” bullet, that travels at 800 metres per second, hit Mr Kaba in the head.

He said: “I suggest to you that’s where you were aiming.”

Mr Blake replied: “No.”

Mr Little said: “Discharge of a firearm towards the central body mass of an individual is almost inevitably going to kill them.”

The marksman replied: “It does depend… It’s a possibility, I accepted that at the time, but I felt that the threat to my colleagues was such that I had to take that action at the time.”

Prosecutors claim that Mr Blake did not use the laser on his carbine as a warning to Mr Kaba, or shout “armed police, show me your hands” before he opened fire.

The officer has told the jury that he did.

Members of Mr Kaba’s family sat in court listening to Mr Blake give evidence.

On Monday told the jury that he felt “awful” following the shooting and he thinks about what happened “every day, all the time” and replays it in his head a lot.

He said that prior to the shooting he’d never fired a gun at a real human being or seen a colleague fire a gun at a real human being.

He added he did not intend to kill, as the training he received is to fire to incapacitate. He said he fired because he wanted Chris Kaba’s vehicle to stop, and that he wasn’t angry, frustrated or annoyed before during or after he fired shots.

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He told the jury he could hear wheel-spinning and the car’s engine revving as armed officers tried to get Mr Kaba to get out of the car. Mr Blake was asked by his barrister Patrick Gibbs KC why he had opened fire.

Mr Blake said: “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.”

The trial continues.

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