Met Police ask coroner not to resume inquest into death of Chris Kaba

THE METROPOLITAN Police has made submissions to the coroner that an inquest into the death of Chris Kaba should not be resumed.

At a hearing at Southwark Coroner’s Court on Thursday, 1 October the Met outlined that the four questions considered by a coronial process – who died and when, where and how they died – have been answered completely by a criminal trial and an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Mr Kaba, was a 24-year-old Black man, who was fatally shot by Martyn Blake, a firearms officer from the Metropolitan Police on 5 September 2022 in Streatham, London.

Chris was unarmed and police officers did not know who he was at the time of the shooting.

The case

Mr Blake was previously known as firearms officer NX121 but following a judge’s decision to lift an anonymity order in March 2024, he was named for the first time.

In addition, Mr Blake was unanimously acquitted by an Old Bailey jury with the IOPC later deciding he should not face a gross misconduct hearing.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman said: “The circumstances around Chris Kaba’s death have already been fully established during the independent IOPC investigation and criminal trial.

“In particular, the actions of officer NX121 have been comprehensively examined and cross-examined. After four years of unimaginable stress and uncertainty for the officer and his family, the facts of what happened are known and he has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

“While our thoughts remain with Mr Kaba’s family for their loss, resuming the inquest and duplicating the investigations that have already taken place is not in the public interest.

“Firearms officers risk their lives to keep the public safe – and as professionals they understand that any police shooting will be rightly scrutinised to establish the facts.

“But there must be an end point to that process, and it is our submission to the coroner that we have reached that point in this case.”

The coroner, having heard submissions from all parties, will make a decision on whether the inquest should be resumed at a later date.