CCTV footage of the moments before the fatal shooting of a police officer has emerged.
Louis De Zoysa, 25, is accused of fatally shooting Sergeant Matt Ratana with an antique revolver at a custody centre in Croydon, south London, on 25 September 2020.
De Zoysa’s murder trial was shown footage comprised of a body-cam recording and CCTV which shows the accused being stopped and searched on London Road, Norbury, south London.
It then jumps to the moments before Sergeant Ratana was fatally shot just after 2am, before cutting to immediately after, with De Zoysa being wrestled to the floor by two officers.
The video shows the gun being kicked away by the officers.
The jury at Northampton Crown Court was shown the footage in full on Wednesday and Thursday.
Jury members were also allowed to fire the gun allegedly used in the attack.
Anthony Miller, a forensic scientist, explained the gun was loaded with dummy bullets made of plastic and that it was completely safe to be used in the courtroom.
Members of the jury aimed the weapon at the ceiling while it was being fired.
Mr Miller said the gun did not go off during his own rigorous test of the weapon.
Suspect ‘hid gun under one of his armpits’
De Zoysa, who was 23 at the time of the shooting, was still handcuffed when Sergeant Ratana was shot.
Prosecutors said he deliberately fired the weapon into the officer’s chest without warning, after likely concealing the revolver and a holster “under one of his armpits”.
The gun had not been discovered during the stop-and-search before he was taken to the custody block.
The first two shots hit Sergeant Ratana, the third struck a wall during a struggle with officers, and a fourth hit De Zoysa in the neck.
De Zoysa has denied murder.
De Zoysa’s barrister told the jury on Wednesday that he was suffering an autistic meltdown at the time of the shooting.
The suspect appeared in the dock for the third day in a row on Thursday in a wheelchair and with his right arm in a sling.
The trial continues.
