Police sergeant Matt Ratana shot ‘unlawfully killed’ after failed search by colleagues, coroner

A police sergeant was shot dead in an “unlawful killing” in a custody cell after his colleagues failed to carry out a “safe, thorough and systematic” search, a coroner has concluded.

Matt RatanaFROM The Metropolitan Policewas killed in the early hours of 25 September 2020 by Louis de Zoysa, who opened fire with an antique revolver in the Croydon custody flat in south London.

By Zoysawho is autistic, was earlier arrested and searched, but officers were unable to find the gun the 26-year-old had in a holster under his arm, although they did discover bullets in his pocket.

Chief Coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe, who concluded an inquest at Croydon Town Hall on Monday into Sgt Ratana’s death, ruled it was an “unlawful killing”.

She continued: “A safe, thorough and systematic search was not conducted.”

PC Richard Davey, a stationer who carried out the search while his more experienced colleague PC Samantha Still assisted, admitted he had abandoned his training and should have discovered the weapon during the arrest in London Road, Norbury, around 1:30 am.

In the custody van, de Zoysa was seen on footage squirming and jerking, which expert evidence suggested was him repositioning the firearm in his hands.

After arriving at Windmill Road detention center in Croydon, de Zoysa was allowed to walk without an officer grabbing his arm or handcuffs.

De Zoysa later managed to move his handcuffed arms from behind to shoot at Sergeant Ratana.

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The 54-year-old New Zealand-born officer, who had worked for the Met Police for almost 30 years and was three months away from retirement, was hit in the chest by the first of three de Zoysa shots in three seconds.

A second bullet hit him in the thigh before de Zoysa was wrestled to the ground by other officers, while a third bullet hit the cell wall.

Former tax office data analyst de Zoysa, who lived in a farm flat in Banstead, Surrey, fired a fourth shot while on the floor of his cell, hitting an artery in his own neck and causing brain damage.

He serves her life imprisonment for murder after a trial earlier this year during which his legal team argued that he was suffering from an autism spectrum disorder at the time of the shooting.

Sergeant Ratana’s partner Su Bushby said: “Had it not been for a catalog of serious failures and people had done their job properly, Matt would still be alive today.

“The poor and inadequate search undertaken by the police officers was a dereliction of duty and left Matt vulnerable to murder.

“The number of failures, the seriousness of them and the impact of both the failures to search and the failures to transport de Zoysa to the police station which have come to light during the evidence in this inquiry have left me devastated.”