LONDON: A man who shot and murdered a custody sergeant at a south London police station now faces life in prison After being found guilty of murder on Friday.
Louis de Zoysa, 25, was found guilty of murdering 54-year-old Metropolitan Police Officer Matt Ratana in the early hours of September 25, 2020, by a jury at Northampton Crown Court in central England. Ratana, who was originally from New Zealand and joined the Met in 1991, was killed by three rounds fired from an antique handgun at Croydon Custody Centre in south London and died in hospital later.
He was the first police officer killed in the line of duty in the United Kingdom in eight years. Police officers in the United Kingdom are not often armed. Louis De Zoysa, a form tax office data analyst, claimed diminished responsibility but was convicted of murder following a three-week trial. The jury determined that he consciously pulled the trigger of the weapon while handcuffed and did not have an autistic episode.
De Zoysa then fired a fourth bullet, which struck an artery in his own neck and caused brain damage. He is now confined to a wheelchair. When he was brought into the station, police discovered a bag containing seven bullets and cannabis, but they missed the pistol loaded with six rounds that were hidden in a holster under his left arm.
Following the verdict, Met Police Chief Mark Rowley described Ratana as an “outstanding officer who brought joy to his work, treating everyone with respect, compassion, and good humor.”He applauded Ratana’s colleagues on duty with him that night, saying that without him, he believes more lives would have been lost.
