Man found guilty of murdering PC Matt Ratana after shooting him in custody
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A man has been found guilty of murdering PC Matt Ratana while in custody.
The 54-year-old was fatally shot with a revolver at Croydon Custody Centre in 2020 following the arrest of Louis De Zoysa.
De Zoysa pleaded not guilty to murder and faced trial this month.
During the trial, it was heard that De Zoysa had bought the antique weapon at an auction and that it was legal to own.
The prosecution said he had also made ammunition for the gun as bullets were no longer available for it.
Despite searching De Zoysa before taking him to the custody centre, the gun, which it's thought he had hidden under his armpit, was not originally found.
CCTV footage of the incident shows the 25-year-old reaching for the weapon and firing multiple times at PC Ratana.
Despite allegations of intent from the prosecution, De Zoysa’s lawyer claimed client was suffering from an ‘autistic meltdown’ at the time and that he didn’t mean to kill or seriously injure the officer.
He told the court: "You saw that Louis De Zoysa fired a gun. Louis De Zoysa accepts he fired a gun. Louis De Zoysa accepts that two of the bullets hit Sergeant Ratana.
"Louis De Zoysa says he did not mean to or want to kill Sergeant Ratana or to cause him really serious harm,” he continued.
"The reason Louis De Zoysa says he is not guilty is because at the time he was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning. The abnormality of mental functioning that Louis De Zoysa was suffering from is an autistic meltdown.
"Louis De Zoysa says it is this that led him to fire the gun that led to Sergeant Ratana's death."
The court previously heard that the fourth shot had hit De Zoysa in the neck leaving him with brain damage.
As a result of the injury, he used a whiteboard to communicate during the trial.
Jurors deliberated for more than five hours over two days before unanimously convicting De Zoysa of murdering the PC Ratana.
De Zoysa, who was sitting in a wheelchair as he listened to the verdict, nodded twice as the judge confirmed the decision with him.
Sgt Ratana’s partner, Su Bushby, and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley were among those in the public gallery as the verdict was returned.
D Zoysa will be sentenced at a hearing next month.
