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Chris Kaba knew police were behind him - friend

Kaba family Chris Kaba Kaba family
Chris Kaba was shot in the forehead in September 2022

Chris Kaba told a friend the police were behind him minutes before he was shot dead through the windscreen of his car by a firearms officer in south London, a court has heard.

Elisha Fizul called the 24-year-old on WhatsApp 10 minutes before he was killed by Martyn Blake - who denies murder - during a police stop in Streatham, the Old Bailey was told.

His last words before they lost contact were "Lish, one sec, I think there is police behind me", jurors heard.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Fizul said she had been friends with Mr Kaba for about two years before the fatal incident, on 5 September 2022.

After Mr Kaba missed her call, she said he called back nearly two hours later and they "were having a normal conversation and were discussing our lives".

She said that at some stage during the course of the conversation, he told her he thought the police were following him.

"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'."

She said the call ended and she redialled "within seconds" to see if he would answer, adding: "He did not. I assumed Chris would call me back within 10 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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Jurors have heard how Mr Kaba was shot in the forehead at 22:07 as he sat in the driver's seat of an Audi car which had been linked to a gun incident in Brixton the night before.

Moments before, he had tried to get away by driving forward and then reversing into a police car which had blocked him in, jurors have heard.

The trial was adjourned until Monday, when Mr Blake is expected to give evidence in his defence.

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