The Metropolitan Police has asked a coroner not to resume the inquest into the death of Chris Kaba, arguing at a hearing in London that the central coronial questions have already been answered through a criminal trial and a police watchdog investigation. The submission was made at Southwark Coroner’s Court on 1 October, where senior coroner Dr Julian Morris was considering whether a full inquest into the 24-year-old’s fatal shooting should go ahead. No ruling had been announced at the time of the hearing.
Mr Kaba was shot by firearms officer Martyn Blake, also known by the cypher NX121, in Streatham, south London, in September 2022. The inquest into his death was opened and then adjourned in October 2022 while other proceedings and investigations took place. The question now before the coroner is whether that inquest should be resumed in full.
Police argue other processes have answered key questions
The Metropolitan Police’s position is that resuming the inquest would not be in the public interest. Its submission is that the criminal trial and the Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation have already fully answered the questions that a coroner would be required to examine.
Mr Blake was unanimously acquitted by an Old Bailey jury after standing trial for murder. The police watchdog later decided that he would not face a gross-misconduct hearing. Those outcomes form part of the procedural background on which the force is relying as it resists a resumed inquest.
The force’s stance does not amount to a decision on whether an inquest will be held. That decision rests with the coroner, who was hearing legal submissions from the interested parties. The issue before the court was procedural but significant: whether the existing criminal and disciplinary processes are sufficient, or whether the wider fact-finding function of an inquest remains necessary.
Family says criminal trial was not a substitute
Counsel for Mr Kaba’s family argued that there was sufficient reason for the inquest to resume, and that the criminal trial was not a substitute for the coronial process. The family’s case is that a full inquest would allow them to participate in a broader examination of the circumstances of the shooting and to seek answers about why lethal force was used.
The family’s legal submissions placed emphasis on questions that they say remain important beyond the verdict in the criminal trial, including the officer’s perception of threat and whether the use of lethal force was reasonable in the circumstances. Their position is that an inquest could examine issues of fact-finding and learning that were not resolved through the criminal proceedings alone.
A family-support organisation has also backed the request for a full investigation, describing Mr Kaba as unarmed when he was shot. That description forms part of the family’s position and the wider public concern around the incident; the present hearing, however, was not a fresh determination of criminal liability or misconduct.
Background to the shooting and proceedings
Mr Kaba was driving an Audi in Streatham when he was shot in 2022. Police had followed and contained the vehicle because it had been linked to earlier firearms incidents. Officers were not aware of Mr Kaba’s identity at the time.
The case has attracted sustained public attention because it concerns a fatal police shooting, the death of a young Black man, and questions about accountability after police use of force. The criminal trial ended with Mr Blake’s acquittal, and the subsequent watchdog decision meant he would not face gross-misconduct proceedings. Those developments are central to the Met’s argument that the coronial process should not now be reopened.
The family’s position is the opposite: that the inquest has a distinct role and should address matters that a criminal jury was not asked to determine. Inquests do not decide criminal guilt, but they can examine who died, and how, when and where the death occurred, as well as matters that may bear on public accountability.
Decision remains pending
The pre-inquest review was convened to hear submissions before Dr Morris decides whether the full inquest should be resumed. Until that decision is given, the legal position remains unresolved.
If the coroner decides to resume the inquest, the process could provide a further public examination of the circumstances surrounding Mr Kaba’s death. If the coroner accepts the Met’s submission, the adjourned inquest would not proceed in the way sought by the family. At this stage, the only confirmed development is that the Met has formally opposed resumption and the family has argued for it.
