POLICE SAY ‘THANK YOU' TO LOCAL HEROES
| Published: 28th April 2008 20:25 |
A youngster who helped foil a raid at a bookmakers and a man who rescued a toddler from a river, were among members of the public to receive awards at a special commendation ceremony.
Shawn and David Smith As 15 year old Shawn Smith walked home, he spotted someone trying to rob his local bookies at Tamworth.
He ran and alerted his dad, David, who rugby tackled the thief - forcing him to drop the cash as he fled.
Meanwhile, Nigel Taylor leapt into action and saved a toddler who had fallen into the river at Tamworth's Castle playing fields.
The "local heroes" joined police officers and police staff to receive certificates of appreciation and commendation from Trent Valley Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Mick Harrison.
"It's a great honour for me to know there are members of the public who are still prepared to get involved and take on the responsibility of helping others. What they do is outstanding," he said.
Chief Supt Harrison said the occasion was also about recognising the work of police officers and staff in making sure criminals were brought to justice.
The Trent Valley divisional commendations are awarded to police officers, police staff and members of the public who had gone above and beyond the line of duty, showing courage, determination and compassion in helping victims and bringing offenders to justice.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Awarded to
Mr David Smith (Tamworth)
Mr Shawn Smith
CITATION
As Shawn Smith was waking home during the early evening of Monday 5 March 2007, he passed a local bookmakers and, glancing inside, realised something was not right and ran home. What he had seen was the deputy manager of the bookmakers being threatened by a man inside the shop, in fact a robbery was taking place.
Mr David Smith, Shawn's father, hearing what his son had seen, immediately ran from his home towards the shop. As he got to the door, the offender was still inside making his way to the door in order to make his escape. Mr Smith grabbed the door handle pulling it towards him and the offender took hold of the door handle from the inside also trying to pull the door open. The offender managed to open the door as he was of large build and shouted abuse at Mr Smith, who refused to move. A brief scuffle took place, in which the offender punched Mr Smith. The offender then ran off. Mr Smith watched the offender run along Coleshill Street, where he tripped himself up in the middle of the road. Mr Smith by this time was on his feet and made after the offender. He was able to catch up with the fleeing man and bring him to the floor with a rugby tackle. The offender threw punches at Mr Smith who was able to pin the offender to the floor and detain him.
Mr Smith then felt someone pulling him from behind, he was unable to subdue the offender and cope with the man pulling him from behind. It was clear this man had misread the situation thinking the offender and Mr Smith were fighting. The offender was able to use the intervention to his advantage and made good his escape.
The offender had managed to take over £1,500 from the bookmakers but, due to the intervention of Mr Smith, this was recovered.
For the tremendous effort made by Mr Smith to catch and detain the offender and the quick thinking of his son Shawn to run home to inform his father what he had seen the Divisional Commander presents to them both the Divisional Commander's Certificate of Appreciation.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Awarded to
Mr Nigel Taylor (Tamworth)
CITATION
On Saturday 8 September 2007 in the castle grounds at Tamworth a two year old child became separated from his mother. He was seen wandering around the flower beds and it was presumed by members of the public that the child was with someone in the grounds.
The toddler then ran down towards the river and was then seen to be submerged in the water up to his chin. A lady who had been watching the toddler screamed when she noticed him in the river. It was this scream that alerted Mr Taylor. He removed his shoes and socks and jump into the river to rescue the toddler.
Mr Taylor passed the toddler to safety as he was struggling to get out of the river with him. If not for his quick thinking actions the toddler may have lost his life.
For this courageous act the Divisional Commander is proud to award to Mr Taylor the Divisional Commander's Certificate of Appreciation.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Awarded to
PC Simon Cartwright (Burton)
PC Adrian Sinclair (Burton)
CITATION
Since 4 June 2007 Police Constable's Cartwright and Sinclair have been performing the role of the Divisional Road Policing Team within the Trent Valley Division. From this date these officers have submitted over 200 offence files to the Traffic Processing Office at Hednesford for offences committed by road users. Many of which have been for the illegal use of vehicles on the roads in the division. This has resulted in over 100 unlawfully used vehicles being seized - increasing the safety of all road users.
Their role also enables the officers to gather intelligence as way of support to Operation Liberal concerning distraction burglaries (bogus callers), providing details of vehicles, documentation and descriptions of the offenders which will be brought to justice. The current joint arrest rate for PC Cartwright and Sinclair is almost 40 since June 2007, these arrests range from disqualified drivers, drink drivers, stolen vehicles, possession of heroin and an arrest which resulted in the offender being linked to a rape case in Leicestershire during 1976. The more recent arrests that the officers have made have been of criminals who have been involved in serious crime who travel through the division.
These officers work to the highest standard, producing excellent results and with minimum supervision. For their commitment to the work they carry out as the Divisional Road Policing Team, the Divisional Commander presents to PC Cartwright and PC Sinclair the Divisional Commander's Certificate of Commendation.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Awarded to
PC Katie Cox (Lichfield)
PC Kelly Blagbrough (Lichfield)
CITATION
On 5 January 2008 PC Cox and PC Blagbrough were on general patrol in the Lichfield area. They received a call to attend an incident where there was concern for the safety of a local man. Through sensitive and thorough questioning of the man's wife, they were able to understand the seriousness of the incident as the man had decided to make an attempt to take his own life. From their questioning, PC's Cox and Blagbrough were able to establish the possible location of the man.
They made their way to an isolated garage owned by the man in question and after gaining entry the man was found with a ligature around his neck and he was balancing on a platform. The officers were assisted by a friend of the man, who had joined them at the garage and they were able to move him from the platform and isolated the ligature removing any further danger.
Without the intervention of these officers the man would have succeeded in taking his life as he had planned to do, but has now made a full recovery after receiving medical and psychiatric assistance.
It is with great pleasure the Divisional Commander presents to PC Cox and PC Blagbrough the Divisional Commander's Certificate of Commendation for their life saving actions.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Awarded to
PC Natalie Newbold (Tamworth)
CITATION
During the evening of Monday 19 November 2007 an incident occurred at Glascote, Tamworth where damage had been caused to property. The occupier, a 74 year old man left his home to challenge the offenders whilst his wife contacted the police.
Officers gave chase to the offenders and, on her return to the address, PC Newbold found the occupier slumped on the sofa having collapsed. PC Newbold checked the man to find he had no pulse and he was not breathing and immediately called for an ambulance.
PC Newbold then administered CPR in an attempt to revive the man, this she continued to do until the arrival of the ambulance service. The man was treated for over 35 minutes and, following specialist treatment, a weak irregular pulse was achieved. He was taken to hospital and PC Newbold volunteered to take the man's wife to hospital giving her support and the appropriate care until relatives arrived. PC Newbold volunteered to stay at the hospital as she had developed a good relationship with the family.
The quick thinking actions of PC Newbold by calling for an ambulance and administering CPR to the man greatly increased his survival chances. Sadly the man passed away a few days later.
For the high commitment to duty and life saving actions, the Divisional Commander proudly presented the Divisional Certificate of Commendation to PC Newbold.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Awarded to
DC David Morris (Trent Valley CID)
Miss Jo-Anne Fisher (Burton)
CITATION
An armed robbery at Draycott in the Clay post office occurred on Thursday 28 June 2007. Three men all wearing balaclavas burst into the premises shouting ‘give us the money'. Witnesses to the event noticed two of the men were carrying large knives and the third was waving a weapon that looked like a hand gun.
One of the two assistants was grabbed by one of the offenders who held the handgun to her head. The second assistant who was behind the counter, was forced to push bundles of cash under the partition. The offenders left with over £2000 in cash.
Witnesses gave good descriptions of a possible vehicle used which was recovered less than a mile away in a country lane. The vehicle had not been reported as stolen or lost. Enquiries were made with the keeper at an address in Tamworth who stated the vehicle had been advertised for sale. From these calls, police were able to obtain itemised telephone billing and were able to confirm that the calls took place.
On Friday 6 July 2007, following observations, a suspect was arrested and his mobile phone examined. The findings showed this was the phone used to purchase the car and was placed in the location of Draycott in the Clay at the time of the robbery.
At the post office the offenders had knocked over a display rack scattering the greetings cards on display. Scenes of Crime Officer, Miss Fisher was able to recover footprints from the scene and these footprints were sent to the Forensic Science Service for comparison. It was the scientist's opinion that it was the right shoe of one of the offenders arrested.
The main offender received a sentence of six years and three months imprisonment at Crown Court on Monday 29 October 2007.
From the excellent work carried out by DC Morris on this difficult and complicated case and for the painstaking forensic examination of the scene by Miss Fisher, the Divisional Commander awards to them the Divisional Certificate of Commendation.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Awarded to
Inspector Ian Coxhead (Tamworth)
CITATION
In 2006 Inspector Coxhead was tasked to implement Neighbourhood Policing across the Trent Valley Division. This very large project under the government banner of ‘Building Safer Communities' project needed to be managed effectively with tight timescales, for which he had sole responsibility to implement.
The project took into account a number of key strands, all of which needed to be managed separately, but also in a coordinated manner. Whilst having the responsibility and accountability for implementing neighbourhood policing across the division he also had to liaise with and work in accordance with Force corporate needs and direction, as well as his ‘normal day job' as the neighbourhood policing unit commander at Tamworth.
Since the implementation of neighbourhood policing there have been a number of reviews, inspections and audits, both internally and externally which have included Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).
It is clear that the commitment, dedication and personal drive of Inspector Coxhead enables him to work closely with our partner agencies as well as officers and police staff of all levels.
For his outstanding achievement of implementing neighbourhood policing within the Trent Valley Division the Divisional Commander proudly presents the Divisional Certificate of Commendation to Inspector Coxhead.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Awarded to
Mr Mike Arnold (Burton)
CITATION
Mr Arnold works as a Scenes of Crime Officer at Burton and was asked by the Coroner's Officer, Mr Barry Johnson, if he would attend a post mortem to look at diving equipment that the deceased (a diving instructor) had been wearing prior to his death in Egypt. He was asked to do this as Mr Arnold is himself a very experienced diver.
The deceased was a royal marine diving instructor and very experienced. The Egyptian authorities put his death down to ‘bends' (decompression sickness caused when a diver ascends quickly from a long deep drive) and returned his body to his family in Burton.
At the post-mortem, histology samples were taken. These led the pathologist to determine that the deceased had died as a result of the bends. This outcome would have meant that the deceased was himself at fault.
Mr Arnold took a different view and sought evidence to back up his opinion, gaining numerous reports on dry drowning at depth and the thoughts of his peers in the diving community.
Such was the tenacity of Mr Arnold's investigations that the family of the deceased and the coroner asked Mr Arnold to examine the dive computer which had eventually been returned with the deceased's belongings.
Mr Arnold asked that a list of questions be put to the Egyptian authorities to positively confirm his opinion. From these he was able to calculate the state of the blood gasses and pressures the deceased was subject to.
Such was the level of Mr Arnold's work that the UK pathologist conceded his original findings were incorrect and agreed with those of Mr Arnold. From this his evidence at the inquest assisted the coroner to determine the exact cause, time, date and location of the man's death.
The actions of Mr Arnold have been over and above the expected normal daily work of a Scenes of Crime Officer, and the family of the man now know the true cause of death and have indeed gained a considerable amount of comfort from the findings of the inquest.
For the outstanding assistance to determine the truth and his outstanding knowledge in the area of diving, the Divisional Commander proudly presents to Mr Arnold the Divisional Certificate of Commendation.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Sergeant Peter Fairhurst (Burntwood)
and
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S TEAM
CERTIFICATE OF COMMENDATION
Mr Steve Lynn
Mr Rob LIddle
Mr Terry Fallows
Mr Alan Watts
Mr Ian Lane
Mr John Jones
Mr Sam Anderson
Mr Andy Beckensall
CITATION
On the evening of 20 November 2007 a call was received to report a missing person, a female aged 54 years. Her family had concerns for her safety due to her suffering from severe depression and mental health issues.
Information from the family prompted an extensive search of the area around the River Trent in Armitage. A handbag belonging to the lady was found by a foot bridge over the river. That evening extensive searches of the riverbank area and the surface of the river were made, all with negative results.
During the next few days, searches of the river, canal and railway were undertaken. To assist with the river search the Environment Agency was contacted, and in total staff spent six days using their small utility boat with outboard motor assisting the police in searching for the missing person.
On Tuesday 18 December, four of the Environment Agency staff together with Sergeant Fairhurst commenced a further surface search of the River Trent. The conditions were difficult as the weather in general was very cold and the river swollen. It was the intention to search the river as far back to Burton is possible. At around 11.25 am the team discovered a body of a female in the river near Catton Park. The body was recovered and identified as the missing person.
Without the tireless efforts of the Environment Agency it is highly likely that the missing person may never have been found and that the family would not have been unable to put closure to the disappearance of their loved one.
In recognition of his determination, leadership and liaison skills Sergeant Fairhurst is awarded the Divisional Commander's Certificate of Commendation. The assistance of the Environment Agency in this incident was crucial and was beyond the call of duty. For their work helping the police the Divisional Commander's Team Certificate of Commendation is awarded to Mr Steve Lynn, Mr Rob Liddle, Mr Terry Fallows, Mr Alan Watts, Mr Ian Land, Mr John Jones, Mr Same Anderson and Mr Andy Beckensall.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Awarded to
PC Nigel Fermor (Burton)
CITATION
PC Nigel Fermor has just recently completed his 30 years police service having joined Staffordshire Police on 6 February 1978. Throughout his career Nigel has fulfilled many different roles which have included being a ‘Panda' driver, crime reduction officer, child protection officer and in the final few years since December 2002 PC Fermor has been a part of the Neighbourhood Policing Team within Burton.
Throughout his service he has always given a hundred percent and this is allied with a very pleasant disposition and is immensely respected by his colleagues and the communities he has served.
Whilst preparing for this ceremony this evening, Nigel's colleagues from Burton Neighbourhood Policing team put together a few words which they feel epitomises what and asset he has been to the division:
Throughout his service at Burton, Nigel was renowned for his many positive qualities that included amongst other things his conscientious approach to his duties, his willingness to assist his colleagues - that extended far beyond the confines of his post profile, his ability to complete tasks to a very high standard, his modesty whilst doing this and last but not least, his unique sense of humour.
These qualities extended to ensuring that members of the public always received a premium service. Nigel would always ensure that the needs of injured parties were accommodated and that suspects were relentlessly pursued. Nigel, as a senior constable on the team, was very mindful of his colleagues and would regularly speak up on their behalf regarding any welfare issues. This extended to speaking to and ensuring that the Sergeants were coping! He was a very valuable asset that will be sorely missed.
The Divisional Commander proudly presents to Nigel the Divisional Commander's Certificate of Appreciation for his professionalism during his 30 year's service to Trent Valley Division, to the communities he served and his willingness to go the extra mile.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Awarded to
Sergeant Marie Hyden (Burntwood)
CITATION
Sgt Marie Hyden joined Staffordshire Police back in February 1983 and carried out various roles within the Force and was promoted to uniformed sergeant to Trent Valley Division in April 2004, where she served as the community beat sergeant at Chasetown.
It is fair to say that Marie is renowned throughout the Force for her personality and outstanding sense of humour. Perhaps it was this in mind when Chief Superintendent Smy asked Marie to head up the Trent Valley prolific offender unit which she began to formulate in early 2005 and within 3 months it was up and running.
The Trent Valley Prolific Offender Unit which was one that has won many plaudits for the work it has carried out, is a living example of how the police and its partners can both tackle crime and the causes of crime. This was recognised last year and Marie along with the rest of the team was awarded a Divisional Commander's Team Certificate of Commendation for the work carried out by the Prolific Offender Unit. There is no doubt that the building blocks put in to place by Marie and the rest of the team have continued to be built upon and the unit is going from strength to strength.
Marie left the division over 12 month ago and she worked in the Operational Policy Research Unit (OPRU) and this move was mainly due to Marie's ill health and she has been sadly missed within Trent Valley. Her illness has brought about her retirement and in February of this year Marie retired from Staffordshire Police.
The Divisional Commander is delighted to award Marie a Certificate of Appreciation for her commitment, professionalism and outstanding contribution to Trent Valley division and more importantly the people of Staffordshire.
DIVISIONAL COMMANDER'S
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Awarded to
Sergeant Peter Fairhurst (Burntwood)
CITATION
Sergeant Peter Fairhurst transferred from North Yorkshire police to Staffordshire Police in November 1981. Throughout his service Peter has carried out many different roles and transferred to Trent Valley division in October 2003, and whilst he has been on the division has carried out many roles.
His main role has been on the Neighbourhood Policing Unit Sergeant at Chasetown, where it is fair to say he has been the right hand man of the neighbourhood unit commander. However during his time at Trent Valley he has also performed Inspector duties both on the Incident Management Unit and has performed the neighbourhood policing unit commander role at Chasetown.
Peter Fairhurst is a people person and this can be epitomised by the responses which were given by staff from Chasetown when asked about Peter's attributes. He can best be described as reliable but more importantly he was always there for the people who he supervised and would listen to their issues. In fact, he has affectionately been described as ‘the father figure of Chasetown police station'. I think it is fair to say there is no bigger compliment to be given to an individual.
As you will have all seen tonight Peter has been recognised along with staff from the Environment Agency for the search of a vulnerable missing person. This again shows an officer very close to retirement still going the extra yard to deliver for the community whom he has served.
The Divisional Commander has great pleasure with awarding a certificate of appreciation for Sergeant Fairhurst's professionalism, commitment and service to the public of Chasetown and Staffordshire.
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