A MET marksman who shot dead rapper Chris Kaba has been found not guilty of his murder.
Met firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, was unanimously acquitted of murder by an Old Bailey today.
Sgt Blake shot the 24-year-old gangster in the head as he tried to ram his Audi car at cops in September 2022.
The prosecution suggested Blake may have been “angry, frustrated and annoyed” because Kaba refused to comply with police.
But Blake told jurors he fired as he feared a colleague would be killed by the vehicle during the hard stop in Streatham, South London.
The jury deliberated for three hours before clearing Mr Blake.
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The officer appeared to be briefly overcome with emotion as the verdict was returned.
He was seen to breathe out, puffed his cheeks and turned away in an apparent show of relief.
The family of Mr Kaba, who sat in the well of the court, sat in silence and made no immediate reaction.
The court earlier heard how Kaba died of a single gunshot wound shortly after midnight on September 6, 2022.
Police had started tailing his Audi Q8 after an officer recognised the number plate.
The vehicle had been used as a getaway vehicle in a shooting in nearby Brixton the previous night.
Officers, did not know who was driving the car at the time, then conducted a hard stop in Kirkstall Gardens.
Hemmed in by marked and unmarked police cars, Kaba then began reversing and driving forward to try and ram his way out.
Mr Blake, who believed one of his colleagues may have been about to be killed, then fired a shot to stop the car.
During the trial ,prosecutors argued Mr Blake had misjudged the risk and exaggerated the threat to his colleagues in statements following the shooting.
But jurors also heard a series of glowing testimonials from colleagues and senior officers.
Defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC said Mr Blake was no "RoboCop" with the “nanosecond” reactions of a computer.
He told jurors: “He is not a robot, he is a human being with a human brain who did this to the best of his ability."
Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct will now consider whether Mr Blake should face a disciplinary hearing.
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The Crown Prosecution Service today defended its decision to prosecute cleared firearms officer Martyn Blake, saying it was “right that the case was put before the jury for them to scrutinise and to decide”.
