Sergeant Matt Ratana was killed at a police station in south London by a man who had somehow concealed an antique revolver, which was not found by the officers who arrested him, a jury has heard.
Louis De Zoysa, 25, denies murdering Ratana, 54, who died after being shot in a holding room at Croydon police station in the early hours of Sept. 25, 2020.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told a jury at Northampton Crown Court: “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.”
The fourth shot struck De Zoysa himself in the neck and he suffered brain damage, which means he has difficulty speaking and uses a whiteboard to communicate with his legal team.
Penny told the jury: “I am going to be talking in short sentences and simple words. This is so that Louis De Zoysa can understand what I am saying.”
De Zoysa, who is being assisted by an intermediary, appeared in the dock in a wheelchair and with his right arm in a sling.
The trial heard the gun in question was an antique and was therefore legal to own, although the ammunition was no longer manufactured.
Defendant ‘Made Bullets’ for Antique Revolver
Penny said: “So if you want the gun to work, you have to make the bullets. Louis de Zoysa bought the parts to make the bullets. He had made the ammunition for the gun at the farm where he lived.”“Louis de Zoysa knew the gun worked with the bullets he had made. Louis de Zoysa fired the gun at Sergeant Ratana. At the time, the gun was loaded with bullets. Louis de Zoysa had made those bullets,” added Penny.
The prosecutor said De Zoysa was arrested on a street in Norbury, south London at 1:30 a.m. by police officers investigating a string of burglaries in the area.
The jury was shown body-worn camera footage from the arresting officers—identified only as Davey and Still—which showed De Zoysa being asked if he had anything on him like needles or razor blades which could hurt them.
They then searched him, his coat pockets, his waistband, and his holdall and found “cannabis and seven rounds of ammunition.”
De Zoysa was then handcuffed and transported to Croydon police station, but inexplicably, the arresting officers failed to find the weapon.
De Zoysa ‘Did Not Give a Warning’
The prosecutor went on: “Louis De Zoysa kept the gun hidden. 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.”He said other officers “were not able to stop” De Zoysa firing the gun at Ratana, who suffered a fatal wound to the left lung and heart.
“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,” added Penny.
The jury was then shown a video, recorded in a ballistics laboratory, which showed how the gun could be fired either as a single action or a double action.
Penny said: “The prosecution say it is quite hard to pull the trigger. It does not matter if you are using single or double action. It is quite hard to pull the trigger both ways.”
“Tests in the laboratory show the gun does not go off by accident. You will be able to handle the gun yourselves if you want to,” he told the jurors.
Imran Khan KC, for the defence, told the jury: “Louis De Zoysa says he did not mean to or want to kill Sgt Ratana, or to cause him really serious harm. Louis De Zoysa says that he is not guilty of murder.”
“The reason Louis De Zoysa says he is not guilty of murder is because at the time he was suffering from an abnormality of mental function. The abnormality of mental function that Louis De Zoysa was suffering was an autistic meltdown,” said Khan.
The trial continues.
