Grieving partner of officer Matt Ratana shot dead by prisoner hiding gun sues Met over ‘shoddy’ search of killer
15 March 2024, 08:23 | Updated: 15 March 2024, 09:13
The partner of an officer who was shot to death by a man in custody is suing the Met Police over ‘failures’.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Matt Ratana, 54, died after he was shot at by Louis De Zoysa, 25, in a custody block in Croydon on September 25, 2020.
De Zoysa had earlier been arrested and searched by officers but they failed to find the gun the 26-year-old had in an underarm holster, despite discovering bullets in his pocket.
It has now been revealed that Sergeant Ratana’s partner Su Bushby, 47, is suing Scotland Yard as she slammed the force for its “shoddy and inadequate search” of De Zoysa.
She told The Mirror: “If it was an effective search the gun would have been found on de Zoysa and Matt would be alive now.
"The shoddy and inadequate search by officers was a neglect of their duty and left Matt vulnerable.
“The number of failures that came out during the inquest has left me devastated.
"I have not been informed by anyone during this time that the actions of the Metropolitan Police may have contributed towards Matt's death."
The Met Police confirmed that it had received the civil claim, adding that it remains "in dialogue with the claimant's legal representative”.
CCTV footage released last year showed the moment Sgt Ratana was shot.
After arriving at Croydon's Windmill Road custody centre, De Zoysa was allowed to walk without an officer gripping his arm.
He later managed to move his handcuffed arms and pulled out a hidden antique revolver before firing four times at point-blank range, with one shot hitting Sgt Ratana in the chest and a second in his thigh.
De Zoysa discharged a fourth shot while on the cell floor, hitting an artery in his own neck and causing him brain damage.
In November, senior coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe ruled Sgt Ratana’s death was an unlawful killing.
De Zoysa is serving a whole-life jail term for Sgt Ratana's murder after a trial last year, during which his legal team said he was suffering an autistic meltdown at the time of the shooting.
Sgt Ratana had reportedly moved into custody work before he was killed because it was safer.
He had served with the Met since 1991 and his death made him the first ever officer to be killed inside a British police station.
