Chris Kaba told pal he feared he was being followed moments before he was shot dead

Chris Kaba told his friend he he 'feared he was being followed' just moments before he was shot to death, a court has heard. Met Police officer Martyn Blake denies a charge of murder

A driver shot dead by a police marksman called a friend to tell them he feared he was being followed by cops before his death, a court heard.

Chris Kaba, 24, was driving an Audi Q8 - which had been linked to a shotgun incident the night before - when firearms officers began following his vehicle, jurors were told. A tactical firearms unit was deployed and were planning to conduct a "stop with extraction" when they started to become concerned that Mr Kaba was aware of the police presence, it is said.

Today the Old Bailey was told Mr Kaba had a tragic last phone call with a friend before he was eventually stopped and shot dead by Met Police officer Martyn Blake, 40. Tom Little KC told the Old Bailey: "It is right to note that [officers were] correct to conclude that Chris Kaba was aware of the presence of police vehicles at some stage.

"Just before the stop Chris Kaba was on the telephone speaking to a friend of his. He told her that he thought that the police were behind him. She invited him to her birthday and at this point the call became muted. She did not hear what then took place."

The trial was today told that a helicopter was deployed to the incident and night vision recordings captured the period just before the stop on Mr Kaba's car. However it did not capture the seconds before the shooting, but did record the shooting itself, it is said.

Blake is standing trial accused of murder. Prosecutors say it was "not justified" for him to fire a single shot "through Mr Kaba's head" after they stopped his vehicle in September 2022. The Old Bailey yesterday heard Mr Kaba died from a single gunshot wound to the head and "associated traumatic brain injury".

Jurors were told Blake was deployed to intercept the Audi the day after receiving intelligence that it was linked to an incident where gunshots were fired. A tactical unit had "penned in" Mr Kaba's vehicle when he "tried to drive away from police" and hit a cop car, it is said.

However there was "no space for Chris Kaba to have escaped and driven away into the night" when Blake shot him dead, the court heard. Mr Little told the court that for a firearms officer "to shoot and kill it should, understandably, be a remedy of last resort".

And he said that "on careful analysis nothing Chris Kaba did in the seconds before he was shot justified this defendant’s decision to shoot". He said "although this was a difficult and potentially challenging situation it was not as difficult and life-threatening as the defendant claims".

The court was shown dashcam footage of Mr Kaba's winding route through the streets of south London before the shooting. As Mr Kaba turns into Kirkstall Garden, Streatham, south London, the convoy of armed officers executed an "inline stop" on his Audi Q8. Dramatic bodyworn footage shown to jurors recorded Mr Kaba holding the steering wheel before trying to drive away from the scene.

Less than a second after ramming a police car, Blake shot Mr Kaba dead, the court was told. Mr Little told the Old Bailey today: "Bodyworn camera reveals that Chris Kaba was in the driver’s seat with his right hand on the wheel and his left arm was half in the air. He is holding nothing – other than the steering wheel in his right hand. The inside of the vehicle is illuminated by the torch on [an officer's] firearm."

Blake denies the charge of murder. The trial continues.