The Mail on Sunday

‘Cop killer’ draws pictures of police station shooting

- By Michael Gillard

THE prime suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer has drawn pictures of what happened, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Louis De Zoysa allegedly shot Matt Ratana on September 25 last year while handcuffed in a cell at Croydon custody centre in South London. The 23- year- old was also hit in the neck by a bullet and remains under police guard in hospital.

De Zoysa’s parents said speech problems caused by his injuries meant he had been unable to give his lawyer full details of the events which led to the death of Sgt Ratana, 54.

But they revealed he has drawn pictures of what took place – the first of them seized by police as part of their inquiry and the second now in the hands of his legal team. His mother Elizabeth said: ‘Louis drew a picture of what happened because he’s been very, very anxious about the police presence and the police took it. [The drawing] was unprompted.’

De Zoysa was arrested on suspicion of murder seven weeks after the shooting but has not been charged. Police are waiting for him to be declared fit by doctors before they interview him. The drawing could be used in a trial but also as part of an Independen­t Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) investigat­ion into the incident. One key question is how De Zoysa apparently managed to hide a weapon from officers during and after his arrest.

Mrs De Zoysa does not think her son, who is autistic, is well enough to be interrogat­ed and says an appropriat­e adult should have been present when officers took the drawing from him in December.

‘Louis has slow processing and poor organisati­on skills,’ she said. ‘He’s very, very intelligen­t but he can’t put two and two together.’

Her son, who works for HM Revenue & Customs, was arrested on suspicion of possessing ammunition and intent to supply Class B drugs near his parents’ home in Norbury, South London, at 1.30am on September 25. His family are pressing the IOPC for more informatio­n about what then happened.

His mother clings to the hope that the gun was fired accidental­ly in a struggle.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said officers were liaising with medical staff to make an assessment of when De Zoysa would be fit to interview. The IOPC said it would be inappropri­ate to comment while the investigat­ion was ongoing.

 ??  ?? INJURED: Louis De Zoysa
INJURED: Louis De Zoysa
 ??  ?? KILLED: Sgt Matt Ratana
KILLED: Sgt Matt Ratana

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