A coroner has offered his condolences to the family of Chris Kaba as the inquest into his death was opened and adjourned.

Relatives of the father-to-be, from Wembley, attended Inner South London Coroner’s Court on Tuesday for a brief hearing to open the inquest.

Coroner Andrew Harris began the hearing by offering his condolences to relatives including Mr Kaba’s parents, brother and cousin who sat in the courtroom.

The court was told that unarmed Mr Kaba, 24, was shot by a police marksman through the windscreen of the car that he was driving in Streatham Hill, south London, on September 5.

The Audi, that had been linked by police to a firearms incident the previous day, was being followed by an unmarked police car.

A marked patrol car then blocked the Audi into a narrow residential street, where Mr Kaba was fatally shot.

Witnesses said Mr Kaba attempted to ram his way free before he was shot.

The inquest will be adjourned while the circumstances of the shooting are investigated by watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The Metropolitan Police marksman who shot Mr Kaba has been suspended from duty.

Speaking outside court after the brief hearing, Mr Kaba’s cousin Jefferson Bosela said: “We need answers. Not just this family, but the whole of London – the whole of the country – needs to know how something like this could occur?

“How can a young man, sitting in a car, unarmed, be shot in the head by police in London in 2022?

“This should never have happened. It must never happen again. We must never accept this as normal. Someone must be held accountable.”

He added: “An urgent decision on criminal charges is critical for this family, and many others, to have faith in the system that is supposed to bring them justice.”

The shooting is being investigated as a potential homicide and the IOPC probe is expected to take six to nine months, which Mr Kaba’s family say is too long.

Mr Bosela said: “We know there are many, many people who are as concerned about what happened to Chris as his family and friends are.

“For many of them, Chris could have been their son, their brother, their cousin, their friend. In communities across London, what happened to Chris feels very personal. They understand and feel the pain our family is going through.”