Police Bravery Awards 2009 - Region 1: Greater Manchester officers scoop regional bravery award
16 July 2009
Five heroic officers from Greater Manchester have tonight received the North West regional award at the 14th annual Police Bravery Awards in London, organised by the Police Federation of England and Wales and The Sun Newspaper.
The officers received the award at a glittering award ceremony at The Dorchester Hotel which followed a reception at 10 Downing Street where they, and 55 other nominees, met the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
As part of an ongoing operation into a series of armed robberies, five officers, DC Andrew Charnock, DC Shaun Drake, DC Darren Elton, PS Martin Hopkinson and DC Robert Stapleton from Greater Manchester, followed a gang of known suspects to a post office in the Stockport area.
The gang started to carry out their robbery, stealing £86,000, throwing petrol over the security guards and threatening them with a firearm and sledge hammer. As this was taking place the officers positioned their vehicles ready to tackle and capture the men.
Throughout the ordeal the officers displayed incredible teamwork, collecting video footage, DNA evidence and supporting each other through an extremely violent struggle that involved firearms, a sledge hammer and DC Charnock being run over. None of the officers had time to deploy any of their own safety equipment and relied solely on their fearless determination to prevent damage to property, the staff or members of the public.
After a long battle, the robbers were eventually detained. The gang were convicted as a result of this fastidious police work and the money was recovered. The officers showed exemplary bravery and commitment to keeping the streets safe.
Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation which organises the Police Bravery Awards, said:
“These officers deserve the highest praise for tackling such a violent and dangerous gang. Not only were this gang known to be extremely ruthless and violent but the incredible teamwork carried out by the officers helped secure their conviction. We hope this award goes some way towards recognising their heroic actions.”
Editor of The Sun Newspaper Rebekah Wade said:
“The Sun is tremendously proud of our association with the Police Bravery Awards and it is an honour for us to be sponsor this event for the 14th year. All the officers recognised at this evening’s ceremony have displayed exceptional bravery and the incredible devotion to duty shown by these officers makes them very worthy winners. With little concern for their own safety they demonstrated the commitment of so many of Britain’s police officers today.”
NOTE TO EDITORS
For further details contact Chris Burrows, Chairman, Greater Manchester Police Federation on 07968 029994. No approach should be made before 10 pm.
For further information about the event contact: Rachel Barnet or Melanie Davies at the Police Federation on 0137 235 2071 or Lorna Carmichael at The Sun Newspaper on 07836 340423. For a full list of winners, visit http://www.polfed.org/
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