Handcuffed man ‘killed police sergeant with revolver hidden under arm’

A handcuffed police station detainee shot dead a custody sergeant with a hidden antique revolver, a murder trial has heard.

Louis De Zoysa, 25, is accused of showering Metropolitan Police Sergeant Matt Ratana, 54, with bullets at a custody block in Croydon, south London, in 2020.

CCTV footage shown to jurors today captured the moment De Zoysa’s gun fired three bullets in three seconds, with a fourth striking himself on the night of September 25.

The shots came from a revolver he had hidden in an underarm holster while his hands were cuffed and behind his back, the surveillance tape showed.

Sgt Ratana, who had served with the Met since 1991 and was two months away from retirement, became the first officer killed inside a British police station.

De Zoysa, from Banstead, Surrey, pleaded not guilty in April and is standing trial for murder at Northampton Crown Court.

The prosecution said today that De Zoysa had been found with ‘seven rounds of ammunition’ along London Road in Norbury, an area just south of Streatham.

Cannabis was also found after officers patted him down before he was cuffed and taken to a holding cell, prosecutor Duncan Penny KC said.

‘The police officers did not find that Louis De Zoysa was carrying a loaded revolver in a holster,’ he said.

‘The gun and holster were probably concealed under one of his armpits.’

While at a holding cell at the facility in Windmill Road, De Zoysa fired at Ratana, Penny told jurors.

‘Louis De Zoysa kept the gun hidden,’ Penny said. ‘Louis De Zoysa was put in a holding room. Louis De Zoysa was still handcuffed.

‘He was able to point the gun Sergeant Ratana. He deliberately shot Sergeant Ratana once to the chest, at very close range. He did not give a warning.’

The prosecutor added: ‘Louis De Zoysa pulled the trigger on purpose twice when he was pointing the gun at Sergeant Ratana.

‘In total, the prosecution say Louis De Zoysa pulled the trigger on purpose four times.’

Sgt Ratana was taken to St George’s Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

De Zoysa suffered from severe brain damage after the fourth bullet struck his neck. 

Penny told the court that he would be speaking in short sentences so De Zoysa, who had earlier used a whiteboard to communicate his not-guilty pleas, could understand what he was saying.

De Zoysa appeared in court in the dock in a wheelchair and with his right arm in a sling.

The trial continues.

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