Remembering Sergeant Matt Ratana
A year on from the murder of Sergeant Matt Ratana, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick has announced a special memorial service will be held in November. This event will take the place of the full force funeral, which the MPS was unable to hold due to Covid-19 restrictions.
On Friday, September 25, 2020, Sgt Ratana, a 54-year-old custody sergeant, was on duty at the MPS’s custody centre in Windmill Lane, Croydon when he was fatally shot. A man has been charged with his murder.
Today, on the first anniversary of his death, police officers and staff across the MPS will take a moment to remember him in a minute of silence at 11:00hrs.
The Commissioner and Senior Chaplain Jonathan Osbourne will represent the MPS at National Police Memorial Day in Lincoln on Sunday (September 26), which this year will remember and honour Sgt Ratana alongside other police officers who made the ultimate sacrifice protecting and serving the public.
Dame Cressida said: “Matt has very much been in our thoughts over the last year, as we grieve for him, but also as we celebrate his life. His legacy lives on with his family and friends from the Met, rugby, and beyond. When Matt was killed, Covid-19 meant the Met was not able to mark his death with a force funeral in the way that we would have wished. I said at the time that when restrictions were no longer in place, we would hold a full memorial service that would allow us to come together in Matt’s memory.
“For many people the anniversary of Matt’s murder and National Police Memorial Day will be a time of particular sadness and reflection. We will never forget all of our fallen colleagues and will remember and honour them forever.”
