I tried to make Chris Kaba turn his life around weeks before shooting but he told me ‘easy money is the best money’

A CHILDHOOD pal of Chris Kaba said helium urged him to crook his beingness astir 3 weeks earlier helium was changeable dormant by a bull — lone to beryllium told by his pack that “easy wealth is the champion money”.

The convulsive crook rejected the accidental to spurn pack life, going connected to shoot a rival successful a nightclub.

Six days aboriginal Kaba, 24, was changeable dormant arsenic helium tried to ram his mode retired of a police halt successful South London.

Met Police weapon bull Sgt Martyn Blake, 40, was last week cleared of his murder astatine the Old Bailey.

Kaba’s past was revealed astatine the extremity of the trial, including his relation arsenic a halfway subordinate of South London’s notorious 67 gang.

He got his archetypal of six convictions aged conscionable 13.

And The Sun connected Sunday tin uncover friends warned that helium should discontinue pack beingness earlier it was excessively late.

One, seen with Kaba successful a 2020 photo, said helium warned members they were getting excessively aged for gang warfare.

Of Kaba, helium said: “He got sucked into the gang world, but helium astir apt allowed himself to get sucked in.”

He said helium had confronted the gang, with Kaba there.

The pal recalled: “I asked ‘when are you guys gonna alteration your life?’.

“I said, ‘you batch are getting precocious 20s and worldly similar that, and you’re inactive doing the aforesaid things.

“When are you gonna alteration your life?’.

“And I got told that ‘easy money is the champion money . . . f**k doing a 9 to five’, and worldly similar that.”

His proposal was ignored by Kaba — who was seen connected CCTV firing astatine a rival gangster successful a nine successful Hackney, East London, a week earlier his decease connected September 5, 2022, successful Streatham.

The friend, who declined to beryllium named retired of fearfulness of retribution, had known Kaba since helium was 12 — and revealed helium had wanted to beryllium an architect.

But helium said: “As helium got older it was similar his ambitions for a due vocation fizzled out, and helium fell further into a beingness of crime.

“He could person been a fantastic dada if he’d changed his life, and helium would person known that helium could person changed his life.

“But you person to privation to change. He didn’t privation to.”

Members of Kaba’s household joined a ­protest march to Downing Street yesterday.

Relatives of radical who person died successful custody delivered a enactment to PM Sir Keir Starmer, saying they privation to punctual him of “everybody’s close to life”.