Latest news with #Ratana
North Wales Chronicle
08-05-2025
- North Wales Chronicle
Killer of Met sergeant Matt Ratana loses conviction and sentence appeal bids
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. New Zealand-born Sgt Ratana was hit in the chest by the first of three shots discharged within three seconds, with a second striking the 54-year-old in the thigh before De Zoysa was wrestled to the ground by other officers. A third round hit the cell wall at Croydon's Windmill Road custody centre, before De Zoysa fired a fourth shot while on the cell floor 16 seconds later, which hit an artery in his own neck and caused brain damage. De Zoysa, formerly of Banstead, Surrey, claimed diminished responsibility but was found guilty after the jury decided he pulled the antique weapon's trigger deliberately to fire homemade bullets, and had not suffered an autistic meltdown. Before his trial, two High Court judges ruled that De Zoysa was fit to enter pleas, despite his injuries. One judge was told that the former University College London student was given a whiteboard and pen to communicate with medical experts due to speech difficulties. He also had part of his skull removed during life-saving emergency medical treatment, and suffers weakness in his right arm and leg due to his injuries. Imran Khan KC, representing De Zoysa, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, said in written submissions: 'The judge fell into error in finding that the applicant was fit to plead (and) to be tried. He was not.' Referring to the sentence, he said in court: 'This case, looking at it in the round, is not one which by any stretch of the imagination falls anywhere near the evil end of the spectrum and therefore we say it should not have been a whole life order.' The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), opposed the appeal bids, but were not required to make submissions in court. De Zoysa was arrested in London Road, Norbury, in the early hours of September 25 2020. At his trial at Northampton Crown Court, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the former tax office data analyst, firing a legally bought revolver while handcuffed in a holding cell. A bag containing seven bullets and cannabis were found during a search of De Zoysa's clothing and body, but officers did not discover a .41-calibre revolver loaded with six rounds. As he was being transported to a police station in Windmill Road, Croydon, in a police van, De Zoysa 'retrieved' the weapon from a holster under his left arm while handcuffed. CCTV evidence suggested he managed to get hold of the gun with his right hand around 16 minutes before the shooting and then took advantage of a vent at the back of his overcoat to hide the weapon until the incident.
South Wales Guardian
08-05-2025
- South Wales Guardian
Killer of Met sergeant Matt Ratana loses conviction and sentence appeal bids
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. New Zealand-born Sgt Ratana was hit in the chest by the first of three shots discharged within three seconds, with a second striking the 54-year-old in the thigh before De Zoysa was wrestled to the ground by other officers. A third round hit the cell wall at Croydon's Windmill Road custody centre, before De Zoysa fired a fourth shot while on the cell floor 16 seconds later, which hit an artery in his own neck and caused brain damage. De Zoysa, formerly of Banstead, Surrey, claimed diminished responsibility but was found guilty after the jury decided he pulled the antique weapon's trigger deliberately to fire homemade bullets, and had not suffered an autistic meltdown. Before his trial, two High Court judges ruled that De Zoysa was fit to enter pleas, despite his injuries. One judge was told that the former University College London student was given a whiteboard and pen to communicate with medical experts due to speech difficulties. He also had part of his skull removed during life-saving emergency medical treatment, and suffers weakness in his right arm and leg due to his injuries. Imran Khan KC, representing De Zoysa, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, said in written submissions: 'The judge fell into error in finding that the applicant was fit to plead (and) to be tried. He was not.' Referring to the sentence, he said in court: 'This case, looking at it in the round, is not one which by any stretch of the imagination falls anywhere near the evil end of the spectrum and therefore we say it should not have been a whole life order.' The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), opposed the appeal bids, but were not required to make submissions in court. De Zoysa was arrested in London Road, Norbury, in the early hours of September 25 2020. At his trial at Northampton Crown Court, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the former tax office data analyst, firing a legally bought revolver while handcuffed in a holding cell. A bag containing seven bullets and cannabis were found during a search of De Zoysa's clothing and body, but officers did not discover a .41-calibre revolver loaded with six rounds. As he was being transported to a police station in Windmill Road, Croydon, in a police van, De Zoysa 'retrieved' the weapon from a holster under his left arm while handcuffed. CCTV evidence suggested he managed to get hold of the gun with his right hand around 16 minutes before the shooting and then took advantage of a vent at the back of his overcoat to hide the weapon until the incident.
The Star
08-05-2025
- General
- The Star
Cambodia discovers, safely removes another war-left US aerial bomb MK-82: official
PHNOM PENH: A Cambodia's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) expert team has found and safely removed another war-left US-made MK-82 aerial bomb in southern Kandal province, a mine clearance chief said late on Wednesday (May 7). Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), said the bomb, weighing about 230 kg, had been discovered in a soil pit in Angk Snuol district. "Buried for about half a century (50 years), it's still new," he wrote on social media, with photographs showing experts defusing the bomb. Ratana said experts safely removed and transported it to the CMAC's disposal center for further action on Wednesday. According to the official, since the start of the year, the EOD expert team had unearthed and safely removed at least eight MK-82 aerial bombs in different provinces, including Kampong Cham, Kandal, Kampong Speu, and Kampong Thom. Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs). An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions had been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998. According to the Yale University, from October 1965 to August 1973, the United States had dropped over 2.75 million tons of ordnance in 230,516 sorties on 113,716 sites in Cambodia. A Cambodia's official report showed that from 1979 to 2024, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,834 lives and maimed 45,252 others in the Southeast Asian country. - Xinhua
BBC News
01-05-2025
- BBC News
Friends of murdered rugby coach take part in charity walk
This weekend friends of a murdered Met Police officer and rugby coach will complete a 30-mile charity walk in his Matt Ratana was shot dead while on duty at a custody centre in Croydon, south London, on 25 September 2020. Louis De Zoysa, 26, was given a whole life term in jail for the two day walk begins in Stroud on Friday and finishes in Cheltenham on Saturday, which would have been Sgt Ratana's 59th birthday. A charity rugby match on Sunday featuring former England internationals completes the money raised goes to The Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation which supports 800 children each week through rugby initiatives. The ten people taking part in this weekend's walk will arrive in Gloucestershire from across the UK and include friends, colleagues and people who never met Sgt Ratana but have been inspired by his story since his is the third annual walk as part of the Kia mārō mā Matiu - The Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation's charity walking project which aims to link places that Sgt Ratana respected and loved while also bringing together project name translates as "keep on being determined and resolute in the way Matt was" and is a nod to Sgt Ratana's Māori heritage. Antony Weller volunteers at the foundation and is taking part this autistic son, Henry, was coached by Sgt Ratana at East Grinstead RFC, something Henry said "changed me from a young boy to a man" adding he thinks about his coach "day by day".Mr Weller said Sgt Ratana's ability to "galvanize, encourage and enthuse anybody he came in contact with" was an "extraordinary ability".Adding that he will be "forever grateful" for the positive influence Sgt Ratana had on his son. New Zealand-born Sgt Ratana, had coached at East Grinstead Rugby Club for three years prior to his December 2020, he was awarded the Unsung Hero award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year following a nomination by the the same year The Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation launched and has raised over £500,000 to money is used to support 800 disadvantaged young people each week through school and community rugby initiatives both nationally and internationally. The fundraising weekend finishes with a charity rugby match on Sunday at the 4ED Hartpury Stadium where the MND Barbarians will take on the Matt Ratana MND Barbarians include players from the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation and the Egg Chasers Richards (Leicester Tigers, England and British & Irish Lions) will manage the Marauders with Mark Atkinson (Gloucester and England) will manage the MND Barbarians. Several former England internationals and England Police internationals will take part in the match.
