Officer 'astonished' colleagues missed gun used to kill sergeant Matt Ratana during search

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A detention officer who discovered a holster that concealed a gun used to murder a custody sergeant expressed his “astonishment” that colleagues missed it during a search, an inquest heard.

Richard Adams shouted how "did he get a loaded gun in a holster into custody?” after his Metropolitan Police colleague Matt Ratana was shot dead by Louis de Zoysa in Croydon custody centre on 25 September 2020.

Adams told the inquest he felt “very uneasy” about de Zoysa once he arrived at the custody suite and noticed the detainee had an unusual walk.

He said: “As he was brought into custody he kept his back to the wall and took a sidestep so his back stayed against the wall.”

After arriving at Croydon’s Windmill Road custody centre, de Zoysa was allowed to walk without an officer gripping his arm, or handcuffs.

Mr Adams said colleagues should have held on to de Zoysa and that they were “outside the reactionary gap” because they walked more than an arm’s length from the detainee.

Police sergeant Gavin Hutt, who drove de Zoysa to Windmill Road, agreed with Mr Adamson that he had not properly monitored the gunman as he left the custody van, and did not see that his hands were hidden under his jacket.

De Zoysa managed to move his handcuffed arms from behind his back to fire at Sgt Ratana.

The inquest also heard that since the shooting of Sgt Ratana, custody suite staff must wear body armour.

26-year-old De Zoysa had earlier been arrested and searched but officers failed to find the antique revolver he had in an underarm holster, despite discovering bullets in his pocket.

Sgt Ratana, who was 54, was originally from New Zealand. He had served in the Met for almost 30 years and was three months from retirement when he was shot and killed.

De Zoysa, who is serving a whole-life term in prison for the officer's murder, also fired a shot into an artery in his own neck, causing him brain damage.

During his trial earlier this year, his legal team argued that he was suffering an autistic meltdown at the time of the shooting. The inquest continues.