Chris Kaba’s violent gang history revealed

Neither the 24-year-old rapper’s gang history nor criminal record was revealed in the trial of firearms officer Sergeant Martyn Blake after a senior judge ruled it had no bearing on the issues for jurors to decide.

Allegations that Mr Kaba was directly linked to two shootings in the six days before his death can now be reported after Mr Justice Goss lifted a bar on reporting them.

The senior judge rejected a bid by Mr Kaba’s mother Helen Lumuanganu for her son’s gang activities to stay secret until after an inquest, which could have taken years.

But after Mr Blake, 40, was found not guilty of his murder on Monday, Mr Justice Goss ruled details from two high-profile Old Bailey trials could finally be be aired in public.

It can be revealed that the Audi Q8 the father-of-one was driving when he was shot had been linked to three previous gun incidents in 2022.

CCTV footage allegedly captured the moment Mr Kaba opened fire on a rival in a nightclub on August 30 and Mr Blake’s defence said there was “strong evidence” he was also involved in a Brixton shooting the night before his death.

The first shotgun incident to which the Audi was linked was on May 22 2022 in Bromley, south London.

It involved the same type of gun used in a shooting on September 4 and was still outstanding when Mr Kaba was killed, the court heard in the absence of the jury.

Early on August 30 2022, Mr Kaba had targeted a rival to his “67 gang” at the Oval Space club in Hackney, north London, an earlier Old Bailey trial had heard.

He and other 67 associates had been at a party in the nightclub when he spotted 25-year-old Brandon Malutshi who was associated with the rival “17 gang”.

Mr Kaba was said to be “moving mad” before he produced a handgun and shot at Mr Malutshi, causing panic on the dancefloor.

Wearing a grey tracksuit, he then pursued the victim into the street brandishing the handgun and shooting as Mr Malutshi tried to flee, it was alleged.

A number of shots were fired before Mr Malutshi collapsed having suffered gunshot wounds to both legs.

He was taken to hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Mr Kaba was identified on CCTV footage of the shooting taken from inside and outside the club.

The gun, which was not recovered, had been smuggled into the club by Marcus Pottinger, who had previously worked there and was able to avoid security checks.

Mr Kaba had travelled to Hackney in the Audi but made his getaway in a Range Rover.

The Audi was driven away by Shemiah Bell who parked it outside his home for Mr Kaba to pick up in the morning.

Following an earlier trial at the Old Bailey, Pottinger, 31, and Bell, 32, were found guilty of wounding with intent.

The pair along with Connel Bamgboye, 29, were found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

In April, Judge Simon Mayo KC jailed Bell for 10 years, Pottinger for nine years and Bamgboye for five years and six months.

Sentencing, Judge Mayo told the defendants: “Shortly after 4am on the morning of August 30 2022 Chris Kaba shot Brandon Malutshi twice in the leg – once on the dance floor of The Oval Space nightclub in Hackney, and once on Hackney Road, as Malutshi tried to escape.

“Once inside the venue Kaba, and other members of your group gathered by the bar. Kaba and Bamgboye were wearing balaclavas.

“It is clear that at some point Kaba spotted Brandon Malutshi, a man who the prosecution said was associated with a gang known as ’17’ from Wandsworth.

“It was an agreed fact that Kaba was a core member of a rival gang from Brixton known as ’67’. It was also agreed that Bell and Bamgboye
were associated with that same gang.”

Even though Mr Kaba was named on the charges and in the trial as a co-conspirator, his identity could not be reported until the conclusion of Mr Blake’s trial.

Defence lawyer Patrick Gibbs KC applied – unsuccessfully – for the jury in Mr Blake’s murder trial to be told about Mr Kaba’s history of violence.

But jurors were only told of the third shooting incident in which the Audi had been involved outside a primary school in Brixton the night before Mr Blake shot Mr Kaba during an enforced stop and extraction in Streatham.

Three hooded figures had targeted two unidentified victims and a shotgun was discharged before they made off in the Audi and another vehicle.

No suspects, shotgun or victims had been found at the time the Audi was spotted and followed by armed police in south London on September 5.

Mr Gibbs suggested Mr Kaba could have been one of the hooded attackers in the Brixton shooting.

After unarmed Mr Kaba was shot dead, a balaclava was found in his pocket and gunshot residue on his sleeve.

He said: “The Crown says, there is no evidence Kaba was one of the gunmen on September 4.

“In my submission, there is strong evidence suggesting that he was, quite apart from his connection with the Audi on 30th (August) and on the night in question on 5th (September).”

He pointed to suspicious telephone data around the time of the Brixton shooting, saying: “It’s not conclusive but it’s not nothing in my submission.”

Knowing what Mr Kaba had done days before explained why he had been so intent on getting away “at any costs no matter the danger to another person”, Mr Gibbs said.

He said: “If one is asking what did Mr Kaba know he had done? What did Mr Kaba know the police would be after him for by the time the cars were blocking him in about to stop him on September 5 that must be of genuine insight into why he did what he did.”

He added: “Had he been alive he would have been tried for attempted murder in this court for many days and weeks.”

Mr Gibbs also said that several days later on September 14 cleaners found a handgun in bins at a premises located shortly before the police stop.

However, doubt was cast on whether it could have been chucked out of the window as Mr Kaba turned from the South Circular.

During legal argument it emerged that Mr Kaba and Bamgboye had been convicted in 2015 for their part in a nine-man fight.

In August 2020, Mr Kaba was jailed for five months for the possession of a knife and failing to stop.

Before that, he served a four-year prison term for possession of an imitation firearm for which he was convicted in December 2017.

An application for a gang order against Mr Kaba was also under way at the time of his death, the court was told.