Man who shot Met Police sergeant dead given whole life prison term
Matt Ratana was murdered in a custody suite in Croydon in September 2020
Last updated 27th Jul 2023
The man who murdered a Metropolitan Police detective in a custody suite in Croydon has been told he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Louis De Zoysa used a concealed revolver to shoot Sergeant Matt Ratana twice while being transferred to a holding cell in September 2020.
The 26-year-old, of Banstead in Surrey, was convicted of murder last month after jurors were shown distressing CCTV footage of the moment Sgt. Ratana was gunned down.
Sgt Ratana, who was originally from New Zealand and lived in Goring-by-Sea in West Sussex, died in hospital despite the efforts of medical staff.
The jury which convicted De Zoysa, a former tax office data analyst, was not told that a shortened infantry rifle, numerous types of ammunition, a pipe gun and a dummy launcher were found at his rented property after the killing.
Sentencing De Zoysa to a whole life order at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday (July 27th), High Court judge Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson told him:
"You acted in cold blood. You intended to kill Sergeant Ratana.
"You aimed the gun at his chest at near point-blank range. Even as he fell you re-aimed and fired a second shot at him.
"The aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors. There is therefore no justification to depart from the starting point of a whole-life order."
Giving a victim impact statement during the sentencing, Sgt. Ratana's wife, Su Bushby, said she has been in a 'state of limbo' since the day he was killed.
"Losing Matt, my partner for five years, is the most devastating event that has happened to me in my life.
"Not a day goes by, when I don't think of him, miss his smile, his humour, his laughter and his wonderful kind personality.
"I have not been able to get on with my life and wasn't able to work for two years.
"I still can't move on with my life after losing Matt and I don't know if I ever will."
De Zoysa claimed diminished responsibility but was found guilty after a jury decided he pulled the antique weapon's trigger deliberately to fire homemade bullets, and had not suffered an autistic meltdown.
He is only the 65th person in England and Wales to be given a whole life order, and will be held at HMP Belmarsh in south-east London.