A prosecutor told a courtroom in England that the police officer accused of shooting a man in the head may have done so because he was "angry, frustrated and annoyed."
Metropolitan Police Officer Martyn Blake, 40, pleaded not guilty to murdering 24-year-old Chris Kaba in south London, as reported by the BBC.
As the trial began this week, Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the court, "The defendant did not know the man he shot. What he was thinking at the time, only he knows. But you may want to consider in this case whether the requests that were made to Chris Kaba by the police that he did not obey caused the defendant to become angry, frustrated and annoyed."
The incident occurred in September 2022 after five unmarked police cars followed Kaba in his Audi car after receiving reports the day prior of men getting into cars after shots were fired in Brixton, south London. Kaba's vehicle had been linked to the incident.
The police cars reportedly boxed Kaba in, with one car in front and three behind. Kaba reportedly drove into the car in front of him and then backed into the one behind him, when Blake shot him in the head, as reported by the BBC.
"We say that nothing Chris Kaba did in the seconds before he was shot justified the defendant's decision to shoot. There can be no doubt that he intended to incapacitate and, we say, kill Chris Kaba," Little told the court, as reported by LBC.
The jury was shown a graphic reconstruction of the incident, as well as video footage of armed officers surrounding Kaba's car.
Little told the jurors, "The body-worn footage and footage from cameras on police vehicles reveals, we say, that it was not necessary to shoot."
The trial is expected to continue for another three weeks.
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