Chris Kaba told a friend that he thought police were behind him just minutes before he was shot dead by a firearms officer, a court has heard.
Mr Kaba was sitting in the driver’s seat of a dark Audi with both hands on the steering wheel when he was shot once in the head by Metropolitan Police firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, on 5 September 2022.
Blake is on trial accused of murdering Mr Kaba – something the officer denies. His identity was previously protected by an anonymity order, which a judge lifted for reporting of his trial.
The Audi’s registration had been linked to a firearms incident after reports a man had been seen with a shotgun the previous evening and gunshots were heard in Brixton, the Old Bailey was told, leading to police following the car.
Elisha Fizul called the 24-year-old dad-to-be on WhatsApp ten minutes before he was shot dead by Blake during a police stop in Streatham, south London, the court heard.
Jurors heard his last words before they lost contact were: “Lish, one sec, I think there is police behind me.”
‘A normal conversation’
In a statement, read to the court on Friday, Ms Fizul said she had been friends with Mr Kaba for about two years before he was killed.
She said: “I called Chris by WhatsApp at 8pm on 5 September. Unfortunately, he did not answer my call right away.
“Chris returned my call at 9.57pm. Chris told me that he was driving at the time he returned my call. I was at home.
“Chris and I were having a normal conversation.
“At some stage during the course of the conversation Chris stated ‘Lish, one sec, I think there is police behind me’.
“I continued talking to Chris. Chris did not respond and it was at that stage that I realised the call had been muted at Chris’s end.
“I did not hang up the call right away. I continued to ask ‘can you hear me’, and ‘take me off mute’. The call ended at 10.07pm.
“I redialled within seconds to see if he would answer. He did not. I assumed Chris would call me back within ten minutes but he did not.
“I found out the following morning that Chris had passed away. I was and still am very shocked and saddened by Chris’s death.”
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The trial has already heard Blake’s account of the shooting and the crucial 15 seconds in which Mr Kaba turned down Kirkstall Gardens, followed by three police cars, one unmarked and two marked.
Mr Kaba had tried to get away by driving forward and then reversing into a police car which had blocked him in, jurors have previously been told.
The trial continues.