A British police officer who shot dead a Black man during an incident in London two years ago was unjustified when he chose to fire, prosecutors said on Wednesday at the start of his murder trial.
Chris Kaba, who was unarmed, died from a single gunshot to the head after his car was stopped by police firearms officers in the Streatham area of south London on Sept. 5 2022.
His death led to large protests and anger among the capital’s Black community.
Martyn Blake, the officer who shot Kaba, went on trial at London’s Old Bailey court on Wednesday. Blake, 40, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of murder.
Prosecutor Tom Little told jurors that Blake’s decision to shoot Kaba “was not reasonably justified or justifiable”.
The car Kaba was driving was followed by police as it had been linked to a reported shooting the previous evening, Little said. Kaba tried to drive away but was boxed in when Blake fired the fatal shot through the car windscreen, the prosecutor said.
Little added: “There was, we say, no real or immediate threat to the life of anybody present at the scene and, in particular, at the all-important point in time when the defendant fired that fatal shot.”
The prosecutor said jurors may want to consider whether Blake was “angry, frustrated and annoyed” that Kaba had not obeyed instructions from police when he decided to shoot.
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin)
