Matt Ratana's partner criticises officers’ ‘catalogue of serious failings’ and slams Met Police
The partner of a Metropolitan Police sergeant shot dead in a custody cell has criticised officers for a “catalogue of serious failings”.Matt Ratana, of the Metropolitan Police, was murdered in the early hours of September 25 2020 by Louis de Zoysa, who opened fire with an antique revolver at Croydon custody suite in south London.De Zoysa, who is autistic, had earlier been arrested and searched but officers failed to find the gun the 26-year-old had in an underarm holster, despite discovering bullets in his pocket.
Transcript
00:00 November 2020 changed my life forever. I will never forget Desoyser for his evil actions.
00:07 Over the past three years the pain has been unbearable. The person that I was has gone
00:15 forever. The pain has been made worse because of the fact that these should have been different
00:23 and Matt's death should have been avoided for that reason I am angry. Matt was killed
00:29 doing the job he loved in a police station which should have been a place of safety and
00:34 security for him. Over the course of the last three weeks evidence has been heard at this
00:41 inquest as to how Desoyser was able to smuggle a gun into Croydon police station. I have
00:49 heard evidence regarding how the Metropolitan Police officers did not do their jobs properly.
00:56 In securing a man who was in possession of a significant amount of drugs and bullets.
01:02 If it wasn't for a catalogue of serious failings and if people had done their jobs properly
01:08 Matt would still be alive today. The shobby and inadequate search undertaken by the police
01:15 officers was a neglect of their duty and left Matt vulnerable to murder. The number of failures,
01:23 the gravity of them and the impact of both the searches, fails and failures in the transportation
01:30 of Desoyser to the police station that have come out during the evidence in this inquest
01:37 has left me devastated. It is my view that Matt has been let down by the Metropolitan
01:44 Police.
01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]