A Metropolitan Police marksman was today found not guilty of murdering Chris Kaba.
Firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, fatally shot the 24-year-old through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 in Streatham, South London, on September 5, 2022.
Hemmed in by marked and unmarked police cars, Mr Kaba drove the Audi backwards and forwards in an attempt to escape, the Old Bailey has heard.
The car had been used as a getaway vehicle in a shooting in nearby Brixton the night before, and was followed when a police officer recognised the number plate.
Chris Kaba was shot through the windscreen of a car in South London on September 5, 2022
A computer generated image issued by the Crown Prosecution Service of a reconstruction shown to the court at the Old Bailey of the position of two firearms officers in front of the Audi
A grab from footage issued by the CPS of the initial follow of the Audi driven by Chris Kaba
Officers did not know who was driving the car at the time.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the court that Blake had misjudged the risk to his colleagues, and had aimed for Mr Kabas head when taking the fatal shot.
The prosecution claimed the officer exaggerated the threat in statements following the shooting, incorrectly stating that the Audi had been driven towards him and a colleague.
Blake said the driver of an unmarked police Volvo could have been killed when the Audi reversed into it at 8mph, which prosecutors said was a gross exaggeration.
A photo issued by the CPS of the blue Audi Q8, the vehicle Chris Kaba was in when he died
Chris Kabas parents Helen Lumuanganu and Prosper Kaba at the Old Bailey on October 15
Protesters marching to New Scotland Yard in September 2022 after the death of Chris Kaba
Forensics officers at the shooting scene in Streatham, South London, on September 6, 2022
But the defendant told the court he genuinely believed one of his colleagues was about to die, and the only way he had to negate the threat was to shoot Mr Kaba.
A fellow firearms officer known as DS87 said he would have taken a shot if Blake had not, and another identified by the cypher E156 said he was fractions of a second away from doing the same.
Another, NX109, got the finger of his glove caught in the Audis door handle and just managed to wrench it free as it moved forward, telling the jury he thought he would be dragged between it and a Tesla parked nearby.
The jury of nine men and three women had retired to consider their verdict at 11.45am today. The verdict was returned at about 4.15pm.