A gunman has been found guilty of murdering a custody sergeant after smuggling a revolver into a police station and opening fire in a holding cell while still in handcuffs. Former tax office data analyst Louis De Zoysa claimed diminished responsibility, but was unanimously convicted after a jury decided that he pulled the antique weapon’s trigger deliberately and did not suffer an autistic meltdown.
A three-week trial at Northampton Crown Court was shown distressing video footage of New Zealand-born Met Police Sergeant Matt Ratana, who was just weeks from retirement, being hit in the chest by the first of three shots discharged by De Zoysa within three seconds. Sgt Ratana died of his injuries in hospital despite the efforts of medical staff.
A second bullet struck the 54-year-old in the thigh, before De Zoysa was wrestled to the ground by other officers as a third round hit the cell wall at Croydon’s Windmill Road custody centre. De Zoysa, who was living in Banstead, Surrey, discharged a fourth shot while on the cell floor 16 seconds later, hitting an artery in his own neck and causing brain damage.
