Met Police 'resisting' full inquest into fatal shooting of Chris Kaba by firearms officer, say his family

The Metropolitan Police is “resisting” a full inquest into the death of Chris Kaba, who was shot by police in 2022, lawyers for his family told a coroner’s court.

Sgt Martyn Blake shot Mr Kaba, 24, in Streatham, south-east London, in September 2022 after he tried to ram his way past police cars.

An inquest into Mr Kaba’s death was opened and immediately adjourned in October 2022, amid an initial investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

A pre-inquest review began on Thursday at Southwark Coroner’s Court to hear legal submissions before senior coroner Dr Julian Morris rules on whether to resume a full inquest into Mr Kaba’s death.

The IOPC confirmed in August that the police marksman who shot Mr Kaba would not face disciplinary proceedings.

Sgt Blake, also known by the cypher NX121, was cleared of murder after an Old Bailey trial in October 2024.

After his acquittal, then-home secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to change laws around use of force for police officers, and as a result the test used by the IOPC over whether to bring misconduct proceedings was raised to the level used in criminal law.

On the night Mr Kaba died, police had followed and penned in the Audi he was driving because it had been linked to three previous firearms incidents in five months.

They were not aware of his identity at the time, but Mr Kaba was a member of one of London’s most violent street gangs and was accused of being involved in two shootings in the six days before he died.

Matthew Ryder KC, representing the Kaba family, said there was “sufficient reason” to resume the inquest, adding it would allow the family to be “involved in broader issues of fact finding”.

In his legal submissions on Thursday, he said the family wanted to find out “why did this police officer shoot our son?”

Mr Ryder told the court: “They want there to be an investigation to provide at least an opportunity to find out if the officer acted unreasonably in perceiving their son as a threat for which lethal force was needed.”

In his legal submissions, Mr Ryder said the criminal trial was “not a substitute for an inquest” and an inquest would help “learn lessons from those tragic events”.

Mr Ryder said he could not think of “any case in modern history or an equivalent where a police officer has shot someone in public and there has not been an inquest”.

He said Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was “positively resisting the resumption of an inquest” and the family found this “disappointing and misguided”.

Mr Ryder told the court: “The family find it very difficult to understand why the commissioner does not want to know through the process of an inquest.

“Why did this officer shoot Mr Kaba and, in particular, whether the officer had a reasonable belief about the threat posed by Mr Kaba when he did so.”

He added that his death was an “immense tragedy” for his family and resulted in public demonstrations of support, “particularly in the black community”.

The pre-inquest review hearing continues.

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