The gunman who shot dead Met Police sergeant Matt Ratana in a custody suite using an antique gun has been found guilty of murder.
Louis De Zoysa, 25, said his ‘hypermobility’ allowed him to blast the 54-year-old even though his hands were cuffed behind his back.
The New Zealand-born officer was just two months away from retiring when he was killed in the early hours of 25 September 2020. He was the first cop ever killed inside a police station in the UK.
De Zoysa was arrested on the street and police officers found seven bullets on him and two bags of cannabis. But the search failed to detect the gun, which De Zoysa was still hiding in a holster under his armpit when he went into the Windmill Custody Centre in Croydon.
De Zoysa claimed he was having an ‘autistic meltdown’ and did not deliberately shoot Sgt Ratana, which the jury disputed.
Louis De Zoysa, 25, (pictured) said his ‘hypermobility’ allowed him to blast the 54-year-old even though his hands were cuffed behind his back
Kiwi-born police officer Matt Ratana was shot dead by Louis De Zoysa in September 2020
De Zoysa was arrested on the street and police officers found seven bullets on him and two bags of cannabis. But the search failed to detect the gun, which De Zoysa was still hiding in a holster under his armpit
Louis De Zoysa, 25, said his ‘hypermobility’ allowed him to blast the 54-year-old even though his hands were cuffed behind his back but was today found guilty of murder
De Zoysa was arrested on the street and police officers found seven bullets on him and two bags of cannabis. But the search failed to detect the gun, which De Zoysa was still hiding in a holster under his armpit
He had bought the gun at an online antiques auction in June 2020 and made the bullets himself on the farm where he lived.
One bullet hit Sgt Ratana in the chest while the fourth shot hit De Zoysa in the neck and he suffered a stroke which left him with severe brain damage.
De Zoysa gave some of his evidence by writing and drawing on a court whiteboard and the trial was conducted in simplified language because of his brain injury.
They had been worried De Zoysa would ‘go bananas’ in custody before he killed the officer who had served in the Met since 1991.
De Zoysa denied murder but was convicted by a jury at Northampton Crown Court today.
Mr Justice Johnson will sentence De Zoysa on 27 July.
Defence barrister Imran Khan, KC, said he would request reports on whether De Zoysa should be detained in jail or hospital.
De Zoysa, a former UCL student and cannabis addict, claimed the gun had gone off by accident but laboratory tests showed this was not possible.
Horrifying footage previously showed Sgt Ratana being shot by De Zoysa with a gun he smuggled into custody
A court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Louis De Zoysa at Northampton Crown Court previously
Louis De Zoysa, 25, (pictured) was found by a jury to be guilty of murdering the officer
Jurors were given the chance to fire the revolver at the ceiling themselves in court to see how difficult it was the pull the trigger.
Analysis of De Zoysa’s devices revealed an interest in weaponry and violence including right wing extremism, Islamic extremism and homophobia.
De Zoysa, who is now wheelchair bound, had been travelling from his flat on a farm in Banstead, Surrey, to his parent’s house in Southwark in the middle of the night when he was stopped by police.
When the cannabis and bullets were found he was taken to the custody centre in the back of a police van.
De Zoysa claimed he was stuttering with fear and ‘hyperventilating’ as he was taken though a tunnel into the custody suite.
He asked police officers if they were going to ‘zap’ him when he was taken into the police station.
In CCTV footage jurors saw Sgt Ratana tell De Zoysa: ‘Your detention’s not been authorised yet, but I can authorise a search of you under section 54 of PACE. Stand up.
As Sgt Ratana adds ‘Mate, you were good enough to…’ De Zoysa then jumps up and brings out the gun from around his right side.
The first shot hit Sgt Ratana in his chest, the second in his leg and the third hit the cell wall as Sgt Ratana’s colleges tried to restrain De Zoysa.
The first three shots were all fired within three seconds.
A fourth shot 16 seconds later hit De Zoysa in the neck before an officer kicked the gun away.
De Zoysa shot the gun with his right hand even though he was left handed.
The killer was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound to the left side of his face, from his neck to above his ear.
Sgt Ratana died in hospital.
Answering most questions with one word answers De Zoysa promised he would not ‘fib’ to jury as he began his evidence.
He told them he was ‘sad’ when he found out Sgt Ratana had died.
He said he was not guilty of murder but then said he did not know what guilty meant.
De Zoysa claimed he didn’t tell officers about the gun because he was feeling ‘anxious’.
‘Were you anxious because you had a gun on you?’ Mr Khan, KC, asked.
‘Always anxious. Anxious in the mind. It’s a feeling,’ De Zoysa said.
He said he did not know if he had taken the gun out of the holster in the police van and hidden it under his coat as he entered the police station.
De Zoysa had to take regular breaks during his evidence and often could not complete a whole day in court.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny, KC, said: ‘He deliberately shot Sergeant Ratana once to the chest, at very close range.
‘He did not give a warning.
‘The other officers present were not able to stop Louis de Zoysa.
‘The shot caused a fatal injury to the left lung and heart of Sergeant Ratana.
‘Three further shots were fired during the struggle with officers that followed.
‘The prosecution say the second shot was another deliberate shot at Sergeant Ratana.
‘The fourth shot caused severe and life-threatening injury to Louis de Zoysa.’
Sgt Ratana had been planning to propose to Su Bushby, his partner of six years when he died.
De Zoysa, of Banstead, Surrey, denied but was convicted of murder.
The judge in the trial refused a defence request for jurors to visit and inspect the holding cell where he shot dead Sergeant Matt Ratana.
Lawyers acting for the former HMRC data analyst made an eve-of-trial plea for jurors to travel more than 80 miles to south London to view the custody block where the 25-year-old claimed to have had an autistic meltdown.
The trial judge turned down the defence’s request, which was covered by reporting restrictions until the end of the trial, after hearing that extensive photographic evidence would be shown to the jury, explaining the dimensions and lay-out of the custody area.