Matt Ratana: Police officer's partner Su Bushby was 'screaming and crying' when told of his death as killer De Zoysa jailed for life
Louis De Zoysa will never be freed, a judge has decided, after being convicted of Sergeant Matt Ratana's murder in June. It is believed he had concealed the murder weapon, an antique revolver, and holster, under his armpit.
Thursday 27 July 2023 17:59, UK
The partner of a police officer shot dead in a police station has said she fell to the floor "screaming and crying uncontrollably", when she heard he had died.
Su Bushby was the partner of Matt Ratana, 54, a Metropolitan Police custody sergeant, killed by gun fanatic, Louis De Zoysa, in a holding cell in Croydon, south London, in September 2020.
De Zoysa, 26, was given a full life sentence by a judge at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday.
Ms Bushby said in a victim impact statement read out in court that she collapsed when she was given the news by another officer at her home.
She said: "I was on my hands and knees, sobbing on the floor, I'm not sure how long for, but eventually I got myself back onto the sofa."
Later, in hospital, she remembered how her legs "were shaking uncontrollably" as she saw his body, causing her to fall again before a nurse supported her.
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"I could now see for myself that it was true, my pain was indescribable, seeing that Matt was dead and he had been killed."
Sgt Ratana had worked in policing for 30 years, and was close to retirement, and, she said of his killing, "he never deserved it".
Mr Ratana's son, Luke, said De Zoysa's "completely unprovoked and senseless act" has caused everyone who was present "lifelong trauma" and led him to question whether he should carry on working as a police officer himself.
James Young, Mr Ratana's younger brother, said the phone call telling him his brother was dead "destroyed" him.
Mr Young, who lives in the pair's home country of New Zealand, said since then his life has been one of "hatred and anger" and "pain and sorrow", after "the hardest event in my life. To this day... I suffer still".
Watching his funeral in New Zealand made his sister, Jessica Williams, feel numb, she said. Calling Mr Ratana her "hero". She said De Zoysa's crime has left her "shattered".
She said: "The intensity of the emotions I feel when I think about things is overwhelming, I feel like I could drown in the amount of grief I carry every day."
Diane Peachey, Mr Ratana's stepmother, recalled how he was "a descendant of greatness, of dignified and educated men and women" who "was so proud of his Māori heritage", and called his death cruel and senseless.