Defence closes its case in Croydon police station shooting murder trial

Louis De Zoysa, 25, denies murdering Sgt Matt Ratana, claiming he suffered an autistic meltdown after being taken into custody.

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Louis De Zoysa at Northampton Crown Court charged with the murder of Matt Ratana. The 24-year-old is accused of shooting the Metropolitan Police Sergeant at a police station in Croydon in the early hours of September 25, 2020. Picture date: Friday June 9, 2023. (PA Wire)

The defence has closed its case in the trial of a gunman accused of murdering a Metropolitan Police sergeant using an antique revolver smuggled into a south London custody centre.

Lawyers acting for Louis De Zoysa have argued that he has a partial defence to the murder of Sgt Matt Ratana on the grounds that his responsibility was diminished by an autistic meltdown.

Jurors at Northampton Crown Court have been told Sgt Ratana, 54, died of a chest wound after being hit by two bullets at Croydon’s Windmill Road custody block in the early hours of September 25 2020.

De Zoysa, 25, from Banstead, Surrey, denies committing murder while he was handcuffed in a holding room, after being found with bullets by members of a street patrol.

His defence case was closed by his KC, Imran Khan, on Wednesday, after a series of facts agreed with the prosecution were read to the jury by junior defence counsel Paramjit Ahluwalia.

The agreed facts, outlining De Zoysa’s diagnosis with autism aged 13, included details of two previous arrests in March 2018 and June 2019, neither of which led to any charges being brought.

De Zoysa was taken to Barking and Dagenham Custody Centre during the first incident, and to Croydon after the second arrest.

Ms Ahluwalia told the jury: “Louis De Zoysa worked for HMRC at the Croydon office for approximately 16 months, as an officer grade data analyst.

“His work involved the collection of data and data analysis.

“He was considered by colleagues to be technically adept, good at coding and one of the few who could write his own coding scripts from scratch.”

Earlier in the trial, Mr Khan told the jury that De Zoysa says he did not mean to or want to kill Sgt Ratana, or to cause him really serious harm.

Mr Khan said: “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 trial continues.