Chris Kaba has already been jailed after police stopped his car and found a knife

Chris Kaba, an unarmed black man shot by the police in south London, was previously jailed after police stopped his car and found a knife behind the lock, it has emerged.

A 24-year-old father-to-be died when a Met gunman opened fire on the car he was driving in Lambeth on Monday evening, September 5.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the car, which was not registered to Mr Kabo, was followed after it was flagged as being involved in a firearms incident.

Mr Kaba previously served a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of possession imitation firearms.

But now it has emerged that in August 2020, after he was released from prison, he was caught driving without insurance with a knife in his car.

Because he committed the crimes while he was still licensed, he was given an additional five months in prison.

Court records also show Mr Kaba was granted a 28-day domestic violence protection order against the mother of his unborn child in April this year, barring him from contacting her on social media or entering the street where she lives.

The family insists the past is not relevant to his death

Mr Kaba’s family insisted his past was irrelevant to the events that led to his shooting, arguing that he would not have been killed if he had been white.

His cousin Jefferson Bosela said: “We have no idea if the claims are true, but we can’t understand how they were relevant to the police’s decision to shoot Chris.

“Everyone in this country has the right to go about their business without fear of being killed by the police.

“There are very limited circumstances in which police can use force. When a person is killed as a result of that use of force, their death must be fully and properly investigated, regardless of what the people involved may – or may not – have done in their past .

“Chris was a loving son, a caring brother, an enthusiastic father-to-be and a young man with so much potential. He will always be remembered as such by his family and friends.”

The office that fired the fatal shot has been suspended by the Met and is under investigation for murder or manslaughter.

The IOPC said it expected the investigation into Mr Kaba’s death to take six to nine months.