Winners announced at Police Bravery Awards 2009
16 July 2009
Four Metropolitan Police Officers were voted the bravest officers in England and Wales tonight at the 14th annual Police Bravery Awards held at The Dorchester in London.
The gala evening organised by the Police Federation of England and Wales and The Sun newspaper was attended by sixty of the most courageous policemen and women from forces throughout England and Wales. The ceremony followed a reception at 10 Downing Street where officers were greeted by and photographed with, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
The four winning officers; PS Stephen Hayter, PC Barry Leban, PC Richard Cousins and PC Michael Carroll from the Metropolitan Police won the award after a regular stop and search turned into a brutal gun attack in North London.
Winners from each of the eight regions were also selected;
Five officers from Greater Manchester; DC Charnock, DC Shaun Drake, DC Darren Elton, PS Martin Hopkinson and DC Robert Stapleton, became North West regional winners after displaying fastidious team work in the detection and capture of a violent armed gang who had been under surveillance for many months and were known to have carried out a number of violent attacks.
The winners for Wales; PC Simon Thomas, PC Simon Rohman and PS Mike Pheasant from Gwent, displayed incredible heroism rescuing residents from a burning block of flats. Without their efforts it is likely many would have lost their lives.
Winning the South East region award was off-duty officer PC Arron Worbey who intervened and prevented loss of life in an altercation between two rival gangs in Hertfordshire. PC Worbey, who at the time was off sick, challenged the offenders and protected the public from harm.
Two Humberside officers; PC Gareth Walker and PC Allan Cowley, won the North East regional award for a highly charged dock rescue involving three men. The officers displayed incredible courage particularly as one of the officers was a self professed weak swimmer.
The winners for London (and the overall winner), were the four officers from the Met (mentioned above), who scooped the award for their incredible bravery tackling armed and violent offenders.
The winners of the East Midlands award were PC Gary Wilsdon and PS Mark Southgate from Nottinghamshire who tackled an armed and dangerous man and were subjected to one of the most prolific attacks witnesses had ever seen. Neither officer gave up despite the ferocity due to their determination to see the man restrained.
The award for the Midlands was scooped by PS Richard Jacques and PS Jonathan Keates from the West Midlands, who tackled a suicidal arsonist and prevented him setting fire to himself and members of the public. Both officers were relentless in their attempts to protect life and property.
The South West winners, PC Neil Sampson, PC Michael Mansell and PC Ciarnan Magee from Wiltshire displayed incredible courage tackling a knife wielding maniac heavily under the influence of drugs. One of the officers and his police dog Anya incurred severe injuries as a result.
Paul McKeever, Chairman, Police Federation of England and Wales said;
“These officers are all deserving winners and we are extremely proud of their dedication to protecting us all from harm and threat. Thanks to these officers and their colleagues up and down the country, we can all feel safer on the streets and in our homes. Thank you to all of you and well done. Your actions are an inspiration to us all.”
Rebekah Wade, Editor of The Sun newspapers 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 incredible devotion to duty.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR:
To arrange interviews with any of the winners or obtain further information, please call:
South West
Cath Hollands (Wiltshire Federation) 07779 332243
South East
Neal Alston (Hertfordshire Federation) 07789 860986
London
Peter Smyth (Metropolitan Federation) 07967 354831
Midlands
Andy Gilbert (West Midlands Federation) 07746 876126
Eastern
Mick Taylor (Nottinghamshire Federation) 07973 560544
North East
Stephen Garmston (Humberside Federation) 07970 001216
North West
Chris Burrows (Greater Manchester Federation) 07968 029994
Wales
Jeff Mapps (Gwent Federation) 07812 100782
• Photographs of the nominees with the Prime Minister and as they receive their award will be available at 9.00 am on Friday 17th July from The Sun picture desk. Please call Robert Waker on 020 7782 4199.
• For video footage contact Tim Duffy on 07970 590861 or timduffy4@gmail.com.
• 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. To view full list of winners, please visit http://www.polfed.org/
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