A police officer charged with the murder of a man in south-east London has denied intentionally aiming for the victim’s head. Martyn Blake, 40, told the Old Bailey that he had focused on the central body mass of Chris Kaba, who was driving an Audi Q8 at the time, aiming only to stop the car. Kaba was shot in the head in Streatham on 5 September 2022 and died following treatment in hospital.
Prosecutors claims that the car in which Kaba was travelling was not a threat and that Blake deliberately aimed at his head. However, the defendant insisted that he had only intended to stop the vehicle and protect his colleagues. Blake told the court that he did not “aim specifically at the head”, and that he had “felt at that moment he was about to kill my colleagues and felt that was the only choice I had”.
Before Kaba was killed, his vehicle was being followed because it had been linked to a shooting in Brixton the previous night. Jurors previously heard that Mr Kaba was hemmed in and tried to escape by reversing and driving forwards. The defendant denies a charge of murder.
Kaba was due to become a father and was only 24 years old. Members of his family were present in court as the trial continued. The prosecution claims Blake’s discharge of a firearm was “almost inevitably” going to kill Kaba, but Blake responded that the bullet’s impact on Kaba was dependent on how it did hit his body. The case is continuing
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