A 25-year-old man was found guilty on Friday June 23 of murdering a police officer at a Scotland Yard detention center in south London while he was handcuffed.
Killed in the early hours of September 25, 2020 at Croydon Detention Centre, Sergeant Matt Ratana, from New Zealand, was the first police officer killed on duty in eight years. Most British police are unarmed.
A “remarkable officer”
Defendant Louis de Zoysa, 25, was found guilty of murder by a jury in a court in central England. His sentence is to be handed down later. He had been arrested after being found in possession of a bag containing revolver bullets and cannabis, but had managed to conceal under his arm a collectible revolver loaded with six bullets.
He had opened fire several times, fatally hitting the 54-year-old policeman. A fourth and final bullet hit him in the neck as the police tried to subdue him, causing brain damage. The accused is now in a wheelchair. The jury concluded that he had deliberately shot and that he was not suffering from an autistic crisis.
London Police Chief Mark Rowley paid tribute to the sergeant who “after almost 30 years in the police force was close to retirement when he was tragically killed”. He hailed a “remarkable officer who brought joy to his work, treated everyone with respect, compassion and humour.”
This article is originally published on lefigaro.fr
