How cop killer Louis de Zoysa went from 'geeky' schoolboy to drug-addled uni dropout who shot custody sergeant to death | The Sun
June 24, 2023COP killer Louis de Zoysa is facing life in prison after today being convicted of murdering a custody sergeant with a hidden gun.
The 25-year-old blasted Sergeant Matt Ratana, 54, in the chest at point-blank range with an antique revolver he concealed in a leather holster while cuffed behind his back.
De Zoysa can now be revealed as drug-addled killer who smoked £200 worth of powerful skunk weed a month.
But he was once a geeky schoolboy won a place to study mechanical engineering at the prestigious University College London after gaining four A-Levels.
The killer dropped out after just one year but still went to work for HMRC with a job in their coding section.
De Zoysa had been diagnosed with autism when he was 13 and claimed he was bullied at school which caused him to hyperventilate.
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The court heard he had violent episodes during his childhood and he punched walls and furniture drawing blood from his hands when he became stressed.
De Zoysa grew up with Sri Lankan-born father Channa, a yoga teacher, and British mother Elizabeth, an interpreter and Green party activist, and his two siblings in Norbury, South London.
The defendant – who has been supported by his parents since his arrest and throughout the trial – told the court his father was a heavy cocaine user and used to beat him over trivial matters.
De Zoysa admitted hitting his father on one occasion with a metal rod during a row.
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Although he had no previous convictions, De Zoysa was arrested twice for fighting before shooting Matt.
The first was for fighting with a friend on the street and the second for tussling with his father after he claimed his dad had chased him on a bicycle.
De Zoysa moved out of the family home and into a flat and workshop called The Coach House in Banstead, Surrey, where he spiralled out of control.
His digital devices showed an interest in weaponry and violence across a spectrum of ideologies, including right wing extremism, Islamic extremism and homophobia.
De Zoysa was flagged to the Home Office’s Prevent deradicalisation programme but assessed as posing 'no threat.'
Following his arrest for shooting Matt, a pipe gun, dummy launcher, infantry rifle and various types of ammunition were found in the workshop at his home.
De Zoysa is said to have begun selling cannabis and in June 2020 he bought the revolver, telling a psychiatrist it was because he had been threatened by three men.
Bright and well-spoken De Zoysa made the bullets himself at his home, buying primers, casing and lead balls.
He used these to fire four shots in the Croydon custody suite – two in Sgt Ratana's chest, one in his own neck and one at a wall.
The defendant’s lawyers argued that De Zoysa had diminished responsibility for the fatal shooting because he was having an “autistic meltdown” at the time.
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But De Zoysa, who now uses a wheelchair and has a whiteboard to communicate, was today convicted of murder.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
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