Man found guilty of murder in rare UK police shooting / Photo: © AFP
Man found guilty of murder in rare UK police shooting
A man who shot and killed a custody sergeant at a south London police station is facing life imprisonment after he was found guilty of murder on Friday.
Louis de Zoysa, 25, was convicted by a jury at Northampton Crown Court in central England of murdering 54-year-old Metropolitan Police officer Matt Ratana in the early hours of September 25, 2020.
Ratana, who was originally from New Zealand and joined the Met in 1991, was hit by three bullets fired from an antique handgun at Croydon Custody Centre in south London and later died in hospital.
He was the first police officer shot dead in the line of duty in Britain in eight years. British police are not routinely armed.
Former tax office data analyst Louis De Zoysa claimed diminished responsibility but was convicted of murder after a three-week trial.
The jury decided he pulled the weapon's trigger deliberately, while handcuffed, and did not suffer an autistic episode.
De Zoysa fired a fourth bullet which hit an artery in his own neck, causing brain damage. He now uses a wheelchair.
Police found a bag containing seven bullets and cannabis when he was brought into the station, but missed the revolver loaded with six rounds, which was hidden in a holster under his left arm.
After the guilty verdict, Met Police chief Mark Rowley called Ratana an "outstanding officer who brought joy to his work, treating everyone with respect, compassion and good humour".
He paid tribute to Ratana's colleagues on duty with him that night. "Without their courage I believe that more lives would have been lost."
(M.LaRue--LPdF)
