Grieving widow of Met Police officer who was fatally shot in custody cell Matt ... trends now

The grieving widow of tragic Met Police officer Matt Ratana is suing the force as she accuses them of a 'shoddy and inadequate' search of his killer.

Sgt Ratana, 54, was killed on September 25, 2020 by Louis de Zoysa, 26, who opened fire with an antique revolver at Croydon custody suite in south London.

De Zoysa had earlier been arrested and searched but officers failed to find the gun he was carrying. 

And Su Bushby, 47, says that she was not told about the blunder, where De Zoysa did not have an officer holding him or handcuffs.

'If it was an effective search the gun would have been found on de Zoysa and Matt would be alive now,' Ms Bushby, of Worthing, West Sussex, told the Mirror. 

'The shoddy and ­inadequate search by officers was a neglect of their duty and left Matt ­vulnerable. The number of failures that came out during the inquest has left me ­devastated.

'I have not been informed by anyone during this time that the actions of the Metropolitan Police may have ­contributed towards Matt's death.'

Metropolitan Police sergeant Matt Ratana was killed on September 25 2020 by Louis de Zoysa, 26, who opened fire with an antique revolver at a Croydon custody suite in south London.

De Zoysa, who is autistic, had earlier been arrested and searched but officers failed to find the gun the 26-year-old had in an underarm holster, despite discovering bullets in his pocket.

Pc Richard Davey, the officer who carried out the search along with Pc Samantha Still, told an inquest at Croydon town hall on Wednesday: 'The weapon was there, I should have found it, if not the weapon, the holster.'

Dominic Adamson KC, representing Sgt Ratana's partner Su Bushby, identified four occasions where Pc Davey 'failed to do the job you were supposed to do'.

The lawyer asked: 'If you had done your job properly Sergeant Ratana would still be alive, wouldn't he?'

Pc Davey answered: 'I don't know.'