Man convicted of murder while handcuffing suspect in British police shooting
About three years ago, a man was found guilty of murder after shooting a British police officer with an antique handgun while the suspect was handcuffed in his cell.
After more than five hours of deliberation, the jury found 25-year-old Ruy de Zoiza guilty of the murder of the sergeant. Matiu Rattana in September 2020.
Prosecutors said De Zoiza shot and killed Ratana, 54, at South Croydon Detention Center. London when he was about to be searched. He was arrested for possession of drugs and ammunition. However, during the initial search, the arresting officers did not find a six-round 41-caliber revolver in an armpit holster.
Inside the cell, De Zoisa manages to point the gun at Ratana’s chest and fire. A second bullet hit the officer in the thigh and a third hit the cell wall. A fourth bullet hit De Zoisa in the neck, damaging his brain.
The suspect, a former data analyst for the UK Tax Office, sat in the dock in a wheelchair during his three-week trial at Middle Northampton Crown Court. England.
De Zoisa’s lawyers claimed she pulled the trigger when her autistic mental state worsened, but jurors ruled that De Zoisa deliberately fired the gun.
Judge Jeremy Johnson said he would sentence De Zoisa next month.
New Zealand-born Ratana, better known as Matt, was an avid rugby player who had served as a police officer for 30 years but was three months away from retirement when he died.
of Metropolitan Police Department The unit said it had issued hand-held metal detectors to frontline police officers after Ratana’s death.
It’s rare for a police officer to be shot dead in Britain, which has strict firearms laws. Ratana is the 17th London soldier to be killed by a gun since 1945.
The last London police officer to die before Rattana was a constable. Keith Palmerwas stabbed to death in a vehicular and knife attack outside the Houses of Parliament in March 2017.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-london-keith-palmer-metropolitan-police-england-b2363157.html Man convicted of murder while handcuffing suspect in British police shooting