Killer of Met officer Matt Ratana loses Court of Appeal bids

LOUIS De Zoysa, who was given a whole-life order for the murder of Metropolitan Police sergeant Matt Ratana, has lost bids to challenge his conviction and sentence at the Court of Appeal.

- By CALLUM PARKE & NINA MASSEY

De Zoysa, 27, was told he would die behind bars in July 2023 after being convicted of Sgt Ratana's murder the previous month.

Sgt Ratana died in hospital after being struck by two bullets in a holding cell in Croydon, south London, in September 2020.

At a hearing on Thursday, De Zoysa's barristers told the Court of Appeal that he should be allowed to challenge his conviction and sentence, on the grounds that he was wrongly deemed fit to plead and stand trial, and that his sentence should not have been a whole life order.

In a ruling, Dame Victoria Sharp, Mr Justice Goss and Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb dismissed the appeal bids.

Dame Victoria said: "All applications will be refused, for reasons which we will give in writing."

The judge added that the written reasons for their decision will come at a later date.