Chris Kaba shooting: Police firearms officer accused of murdering 24-year-old to be named publicly

Chris Kaba died after he was shot on September 6 last year Credit: Metropolitan Police/Family handout

The police officer charged with murder following the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba will be named publicly a judge has ruled.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC today ruled at the Old Bailey the Metropolitan Police firearms officer involved in the shooting can be named on January 30.

The marksman, previously known only as NX121, is facing trial after Mr Kaba's death in Streatham Hill, south London on September 6 last year.

The 24-year-old father-to-be died from a single gunshot to the head after the Audi he was driving was blocked in by a police vehicle and an officer shot him through the car windscreen.

Usually, defendants are named publicly at the point at which they are charged with a criminal offence.

Members of the campaign group Justice for Chris Kaba outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in September Credit: PA

Judge Lucraft said that the officer’s name and date of birth will be made public next year, but that their home address or any image of them cannot be published.

In his ruling, the judge said he had viewed “raw underlying intelligence material” before coming to the conclusion there was not a “real and immediate risk” to the life of the defendant or to his family.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting in September 2022, he said there was “significant information about a threat”.

However, any risks in lifting the anonymity order could be addressed in various way to “ameliorate or mitigate them”, he said.

Prosper Kaba and Helen Lumuanganu outside the Old Bailey in London Credit: PA

He continued: “If NX121 is named, there is a risk that some may seek to obtain more details about him and to make threats to him or his family.

“However, in my judgment the naming the defendant or in giving his date of birth does not give rise to a real and immediate risk to his life.

“In contrast, in my judgment the lifting of all aspects of his identity might give rise to such risks and so the order of this court will not permit the address of the defendant to be given in court.

“Secondly, the order will continue to prohibit any photographs, drawing, image or detailed description to be reported for the same reason as the address.”

On the three-month delay, Judge Lucraft said: “Not only should that period of time cater for consideration of any pre-trial issues but it should also cater for the imposition of any additional mitigating measures to be put in place or implemented by those responsible for dealing with NX121 before the first name or names, surname and date of birth of NX121 are able to be released.

“As any trial will not be before the summer of 2024, I do not see that this should cause any other concerns.”

Chris Kaba's cousin Jefferson Bosela reading a statement beside Mr Kaba's mother Helen Lumuanganu Credit: PA

The Metropolitan Police marksman was charged with murder on September 20 this year.

The Crown Prosecution Service choosing not to publicly name the officer at that stage ahead of an application to keep him anonymous.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court the following day, where District Judge Nina Tempia put an order in place banning publication of anything that would identify the officer, ahead of further legal hearings at the Old Bailey.

A plea and trial preparation hearing is due to take place on December 1, with a trial potentially starting on September 9 next year.

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