Met Police asks coroner not to resume inquest into Chris Kaba's death as lawyers for his family say officer could have been acting 'unreasonably'

The Met Police has said a full inquest into the death of violent gangster Chris Kaba should not go ahead after the police marksman who shot him dead was cleared of murder.

But Kaba's family have argued that officer Martyn Blake - known by his cipher NX121 - could have been acting 'unreasonably' when he fired at the 24-year-old, in September 2022.

Coroner Dr Julian Morris listened to both sides as he announced a decision on whether there will be a full inquest would be made next week.

The shooting occurred after armed police tailed the vehicle Kaba was driving as it had been used as a getaway car in a gang-related shooting the night before in Brixton, south London.

When police boxed in the vehicle in nearby Streatham, Kaba revved his Audi 4x4 back and forth, almost dragging the ten officers surrounding him under the wheels before Mr Blake shot him.

He was armed with a semi-automatic SIG Sauer MCX carbine which fires a bullet travelling at 800 metres a second.

Kaba was hit in the head and died instantly.

The 42-year-old officer was cleared of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey, with fellow police marksmen turning in their own weapons after being enraged he had faced charges.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) initially said Mr Blake should face a gross misconduct hearing, but announced in August that the disciplinary probe had been dropped.

Jason Beer KC, for the Met Police, argued that the re-opening of the inquest could 'confuse rather than illuminate' what happened on that fateful night and that it was 'not in the public interest'.

He said: 'Just because these wider issues weren't discussed in the criminal trial it does not mean the inquest needs to be resumed.

'The inquest proposed is becoming increasingly broad rather than a proper investigation into the circumstances of his death.

'When an incident happens that results in death, it is proceeded with an investigation as to whether there has been misconduct or culpability.

'Just because the investigative body didn't find any issues it does not mean there needs to be an inquest. Indeed, rather that throws the world upside down.

'There's a danger that if such proceedings happened it would confuse rather than illuminate what happened.'

Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman added: '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.'

Kaba's family however have demanded a full inquest into his death.

Their barrister Matthew Ryder KC said: 'We have set out in our submissions reasons why the family submit their reasons for an inquest.

'It can be condensed into a single question - "why did this police officer shoot our son?" The question is not why does he say why he shot our son, but why did he shoot our son?

'The single question has a number of elements to it, why did it happen in the way that it did, why were the cars positioned in that way.

'Were they positioned in the way this officer says they were, or the way the IOPC said they were?

'There is a real concern that the officer acted unreasonably.

'We accept that this does not make the officer criminally liable, but if that officer did have an unreasonable belief then it is critical there is an opportunity to explore it.'

Mr Ryder added: 'In every single case that we are aware of when a police officer has shot someone in public there has been an inquest.

'The commissioner should want to know if one of his police officers killed a man based on an unreasonable belief.'

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Mr Ryder explained that it is legitimate for an inquest to resume after a criminal trial where a police officer is cleared.

He said the inquest jury could find the officer's understanding was mistaken or inappropriate.

Coroner Dr Julian Morris said: 'I have got the who, what and where, but the general point of view is that I don't have to go to why.

'All of your questions relating to the officer are of why. For example, if someone takes their life to an overdose I don't have to establish why.'

Mr Ryder replied: 'When you have an officer killing someone in the street, how and why are difficult to delineate.

'If an officer killed someone on misunderstanding and unreasonably assessing the situation, asking how it happened or why it happened are hard to delineate.

'Lots of questions will flow from this, both how and why.'

Kaba was described as a 'core member' of the Brixton Hill-based 67 gang, linked by police to shootings, stabbings and murders.

Six days before he was shot dead, Kaba chased a gang rival and shot him in the leg with a gun smuggled into the Oval Space club in Hackney.

The shooting was part of an ongoing gang war for control of a drug dealing network between Kaba's '67' gang, based in the Brixton Hill area of London, and the '17' gang from Wandsworth Road area.