Met officer feared colleague hit by car moments before Chris Kaba shot, court told
A firearms officer wept in court saying she feared a colleague had made a “guttural scream” and was hit by a car moments before Chris Kaba was fatally shot during a police stop. The officer, referred to by her cypher HA10, became emotional as she described events that culminated in the death of the 24-year-old on September 5 2022.
That night, Metropolitan Police[1] officer Martyn Blake had shot Mr Kaba through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 which had been linked to a shotgun incident the night before.
HA10 was giving evidence for the defence in the Old Bailey trial of Blake, 40, for Mr Kaba’s murder. She was in the third of a convoy of armed police vehicles that had followed the Audi to Streatham, South London, where a decision was made to initiate an enforced stop and extraction.
She told jurors it had been an “incredibly frightening” and “chaotic” experience during which she believed she was at risk of being hit as the Audi tried to smash and ram its way out.
She believed at the time that an officer had made a “guttural” scream as if they had been hit by the car but was later advised it was likely to be screeching tyres, the Old Bailey heard.
On arrival at Kirkstall Gardens, the officer told jurors she immediately got out of “Charlie” vehicle and crossed the road behind an unmarked police vehicle which was rammed by the Audi in front.
HA10 said: “It became apparent the Audi was ramming and smashing into the vehicle ahead of it and the police vehicle behind it.
“I would not be able to say with certainty how many times it occurred. I believe there is a movement forward and then it at speed reversed into the unmarked Volvo immediately behind the Audi.
“That’s when I made the decision it was either going to be a pursuit or I needed to create some distance to protect myself from becoming too close to the vehicle.”
HA10 was in the third of a convoy of armed police vehicles that followed the Audi to Streatham (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
Asked what she thought the danger was, she said: “In the moment, I was incredibly frightened. It happened almost instantaneously.
“I realised in a matter of milliseconds what was happening and I was aware I had to make decisions on what my next step would be, otherwise I was putting myself in danger potentially being hit by a vehicle.”
She said: “There was an awful lot of crashing and smashing as you would expect of a collision.
“There was an incredibly clear scream. It was a standout memory without having to watch the body-worn (video) back.
“I mean a scream by a human being. It sounded quite guttural. At the time of hearing it I absolutely thought that one of my colleagues had been possibly hit by the vehicle.
“At the time I am hearing it, I absolutely believed it had come from a colleague. I knew there were a number of officers up ahead I believed had been hit and potentially injured as a result.”
On the moment Mr Kaba was fatally injured, she said: “I remember a very clear and distinctive gun shot which was recognisable over and above all the other noise occurring at the time.”
The officer told jurors she gave “hands-on” first aid to Mr Kaba, who died later that night from the gunshot to the head.
The officer said that she knew Blake as part of the team but that he was not her direct line manager.
Asked to describe him, she said: “I cannot confess to knowing him very well but any interaction I had with him he was entirely friendly, very calm, very knowledgeable, very pleasant to be around.”
The witness said she never saw him angry, frustrated or annoyed.
Cross-examining, prosecutor Louise Oakley said: “Do you accept you were never at risk yourself of being struck by that Audi?”
A computer-generated image of a reconstruction of the position of two firearms officers in front of the Audi in which Chris Kaba was fatally shot (Image: PA Media)
HA10 agreed and also acknowledged there was no scream, saying: “I have been advised the noise has been attributed to a noise of a tyre screeching.”
Patrick Gibbs KC, defending, asked what the witness thought about the risk on the night.
She replied: “At the time, I was very concerned I was going to be hit by the Audi.
“At the time, it was an incredibly frightening, chaotic experience.”
Earlier, HA10 told jurors she had been at the gunshot incident in Brixton the night before and was working overtime on the night Mr Kaba was killed.
She said: “My understanding of the Audi connection was a shotgun had been discharged in a residential area, shotgun cartridges were found inside a vehicle.”
She told jurors it was believed the Audi had been one of two getaway vehicles in the September 4 shooting and someone was seen to get inside it possibly in possession of a shotgun.
The witness said she believed no gun had been recovered and there had been no further developments or victim identified.
On the events of September 5, she said: “I believed I was following a vehicle that had been directly linked to the discharge of a firearm the previous evening.”
The officer confirmed she still worked as a firearms officer but added: “I do not in the long-term plan to remain in the Metropolitan Police Service.”
Blake has denied Mr Kaba’s murder and the Old Bailey trial continues.
References
- ^ Metropolitan Police (www.mylondon.news)
- ^ Sara Sharif had more than 70 recent injuries after her death, court told (www.mylondon.news)