Letter: Tragic Death of Sgt Matiu Ratana

Published on: 26 Sep, 2020
Updated on: 26 Sep, 2020

Sgt Matiu Ratana Photo BBC

From: Sir Paul Beresford

Conservative MP for Mole Valley

The tragic, senseless and pointless death of a serving Metropolitan Police officer at Croydon is deeply sad. It is particularly poignant for me in spite of my not having met Matiu.

As Chair of the Policing and Security APPG, as a New Zealander by origin and as a previous MP for Croydon Central, his death is of more than usual significance for the loss of a police officer doing his duty.

Matiu was of Maori, New Zealand origin. I am also of New Zealand origin. It is significant that the UK police and the New Zealand police are not routinely armed and rely on working closely with the population they serve. Sgt Ratana served as a police officer both in London and in New Zealand. As one would almost expect of a New Zealander he was a stalwart supporter of rugby union.

To add to the sadness this reminds me of the murder of Metropolitan Police Officer Sgt Robertson when he was murdered by stabbing on 8 February 1994 on the Croydon new Addington estate when I was the MP for the then Croydon Central constituency. His murderer, Robert Eades, was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment but regretfully under the normal sentencing release protocol is now probably back amongst the community.

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