A Metropolitan Police marksman who shot dead 24-year-old Chris Kaba will appear in court after being charged with murder.

The officer, identified only as NX121, fired a single shot, which went through the windscreen of the car Mr Kaba was driving and hit him in the head.

In the moments before the shooting last September 6, Mr Kaba, 24, had turned into Kirkstall Gardens in Streatham Hill, south London, and collided with a marked police car.

The officer is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning and later at the Old Bailey to deal with bail.

They have not yet been named publicly by the Crown Prosecution Service, as is usual when an adult is charged with murder, because they intend to apply for anonymity in court, it is understood.

Police tape across a residential street with cars parked on both sides.
The police cordon in Kirkstall Gardens, Streatham Hill, south London, on the day after Mr Kaba was shot dead (PA)

On Wednesday, Mr Kaba’s loved ones welcomed the decision to charge the officer and said they hope any trial can take place “without delay”.

On the day Mr Kaba died, he was being followed by an unmarked police car with no lights or sirens while driving an Audi that was not his.

It is rare for police officers to be charged with murder or manslaughter.

Since 1990 there have been 1,869 deaths in or following police custody in England and Wales, the charity Inquest said.

An officer has been charged with murder or manslaughter in 12 of those cases.

There has only been one conviction of a police officer in that time – West Mercia Police constable Benjamin Monk, who was jailed in 2021 for the manslaughter of former footballer Dalian Atkinson.