The Metropolitan police officer who shot dead Chris Kaba in south London with a “supersonic” bullet to the head denied making false or exaggerated claims to justify opening fire.
Martyn Blake, 40, denies murder. His evidence continued into a second day on Tuesday as he was questioned by the prosecutor Tom Little KC.
Kaba, 24, was shot after police forced the car he was driving to stop, believing it was linked to a firearms incident the night before.
The Audi was stopped on Kirkstall Gardens, south London, with armed officers jumping out of their cars with orders to extract the driver.
The Old Bailey was told the bullet used travelled at 800 metres a second and was fired from a few metres away by Blake, who said his decision was “intuitive” as he feared his colleagues would imminently face death or serious harm.
Little showed the court video footage of the incident, accusing Blake of getting wrong the key parts of his claim he was acting in self-defence of himself or others.
The Audi, once boxed in by police, rammed and revved its engine as it tried to escape, striking a police car. Police then tightened the box, and 17 seconds after the vehicle was forced to stop Blake fired a single shot though its windscreen.
The officer said he feared his colleagues were so close to the car, within “touching distance”, they would imminently be run over or dragged under its wheels.
Little ran footage from cameras worn on officers’ bodies and from vehicles present to claim police were not as close as Blake had said. While Blake alleged the Audi had driven at him, Little said video footage showed it had not.
The prosecutor said: “The vehicle actually drives away from you rather than towards you.” Blake replied: “It felt like it was coming at me at the time. It certainly made me feel very uncomfortable.”
Little then asked the officer if he accepted the vehicle had come to a halt and was stationary when he pulled the trigger. Blake replied he did not know.
Later Little said: “Your discharged your firearm without properly assessing the risk in front of you?”
“I disagree,” said Blake.
Little said: “You discharged the firearms when you should not have done so, I suggest?” Blake disagreed.
The officer told the court he had opened fire not intending to kill, but to incapacitate the driver and stop the vehicle.
He said he aimed around the area of the steering wheel: “I aimed my firearm at the central body mass as we are trained to do, over the steering wheel. Obviously I was aware that the bullet would hit his body at some point but I didn’t intend to kill. It was the only way I thought I had at the time to stop the vehicle.”
Blake said if he had missed and the vehicle stopped, he would not have fired again, and denied firing deliberately at Kaba’s head.
The jury has heard that “perceptual distortion” after stressful and fast-moving events can lead to errors in remembering even key details. Blake said: “Memory after these sort of incidents is always going to be distorted.”
The jury was told that in interview with investigators under criminal caution, Blake refused to answer verbal questions, instead providing written answers.
Kaba was shot at about 10.06pm on 5 September 2022, and was pronounced dead a little more than two hours later.
The trial continues.
