Brave PC to be recognised at awards ceremony

7 December 2021

A West Midlands Police officer is heading for London and the 2021 Police Bravery Awards this week after being nominated for tackling a knifeman who stabbed an emergency services worker in the heart.

PC Matthew Evans was off duty when he witnessed the attack near the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, in October 2019. He immediately intervened, putting himself between the attacker, Mohammed Alinoor Uddin, and his victim.

PC Evans then chased Uddin as he fled. He tackled and disarmed the man, who was high on drink and drugs, before holding him on the ground until Metropolitan Police officers arrived.

PC Evans was bitten on the hand by Uddin and also abused by a hostile crowd that gathered, with some trying to prevent him from holding the suspect.

The officer was taken to St Thomas’ Hospital in central London to receive treatment for the bite before giving up the rest of his day off to attend Stoke Newington Police Station, meeting the investigation team and providing a recorded witness interview.

His compelling evidence for the Crown Prosecution Service saw Uddin convicted of wounding with intent at The Old Bailey and jailed for 12 years and nine months in March 2020. He had previous convictions for robbery and possessing knives in public.

The victim of the knife attack survived after emergency surgery at the Royal London Hospital.

Recalling the attack, PC Evans said: “When I saw the guy being stabbed, for me there wasn’t a choice to make - I had to stop him before he killed someone.”

PC Evans, an officer with 22 years’ service and based at Birmingham West NPU, has already received a Deputy Commissioner’s award from the Metropolitan Police.

He was nominated by West Midlands Police Federation for the Police Bravery Awards 2021 which take place in the capital on Thursday.