2024 POLICE BRAVERY AWARDS METROPOLITAN 3 PCs Luchia Blyth and Natalie Smith from Norfolk


Constabulary attended the scene initially to take details of the man and check to see if he was injured. Whilst searching the grounds of the hospital, they located the patient on a fire escape access ladder dousing himself with petrol and holding a lighter.


They communicated key information to the control room and


established an initial cordon to also protect staff, before calmly talking to the vulnerable male, making negotiation attempts under exceptional pressure.


As the incident unfolded, the man dangled from the edge of the fire ladder, the platform surrounding it was also soaked in the flammable liquid. Threatening to set himself alight and jump, PCs Smith and Blyth continued negotiation attempts, and the man stepped backwards onto a steady surface. The situation escalated and the patient climbed down the


PCs Alannah Mulhall and Joe Gerrard put their own lives at risk to protect colleagues and the public, trying to detain a man with a knife who had stabbed both of them in a frenzied attack. They were responding to a call at Leicester Square where a male


had been arrested for spiking and a victim was being cared for. PC Mulhall along with her colleague heard a commotion on the street and went to investigate. At this point they were confronted by a man armed with a knife. The male stabbed PC Mulhall through her arm – the wound was so deep it almost went through the other side. Despite the serious injury, she remained calm and composed and


was able to call for assistance from colleagues. On their arrival the man was still armed and multiple attempts to detain him failed as Taser, PAVA spray and baton strikes did not subdue him. Focusing on keeping members of the public safe, PC Mulhall and her colleagues, including PC Gerrard, stood their ground and ensured the crowd stayed back from the dangerous situation before backup arrived.


The violent suspect now appeared fixated on trying to cause


harm to PC Gerrard and despite further attempts to detain him, he lunged at him stabbing him five times causing injuries to his neck, arm and puncturing his lung.


It was only through the work of paramedics that the chest injury did not have more serious consequences. Both officers were taken to hospital where they underwent surgery for their injuries and have since returned to their duties. PCs Mulhall and Gerrard also played a significant role in operational learning and have had to re-live what occurred on numerous occasions to assist in reducing the potential future likelihood of a similar incident occurring again.


NORFOLK Four officers faced an unfolding crisis with a vulnerable individual armed with petrol and a lighter. An absconder from Northgate


Hospital, who had jumped from a roof of a hospital building and ran away from staff, returned with a can of petrol and a lighter. The man was in crisis and suffering from severe psychosis and detained under the Mental Health Act.


ladder whilst still in possession of the lighter and soaked himself in the entire can of petrol, threatening PC Blyth and Smith he would set himself, and them, alight if they followed him. He walked from the buildings towards the exit of the hospital. To allow time, distance and space and facilitate the attendance of specialist resources – PCs Blyth and Smith, and now PS Matthew Bloomfield (above right), followed the offender in company with the silver commander, an inspector who wishes to remain anonymous. A containment was set up around the individual to create a safe working space and officers continued to make attempts to negotiate whilst tactical plans were put into place to mitigate the risk to the public, officers, and the individual. The man re-stated his intention to set himself alight at a shopping centre and to set officers alight if they attempted to stop him. He began to head towards a busy shopping area, three days before Christmas. A tactical parameter was set up, but this was quickly breached.


At great personal risk, another officer grabbed the offender’s hand in which the lighter was held and held onto this as hard as he could. The inspector then deployed PAVA to incapacitate the man safely, and with the assistance of PCs Blyth and Smith, managed to seize the lighter. His fuel-soaked clothes were then removed.


The officers involved in this detention also became soaked in fuel from the struggle for the lighter and were at immediate risk of potentially life-changing harm to prevent the subject entering high footfall areas. The individual was moved to hospital by ambulance and eventually placed in a more secure facility.


NORTHAMPTONSHIRE PC Matt O’Brien used himself as a human shield to protect a woman who was attacked by a dangerously out of control dog. On July 8, 2023, an incident of two dogs attacking a woman and a young girl at a house in Daventry was reported to Northamptonshire Police. The incident was still unfolding when PC O’Brien arrived as one of the first officers on scene. He was informed one of the dogs had attacked a woman,


causing a significant neck injury and a bite to her upper arm, and a young girl had sustained serious head injuries. The child had


27 | POLICE | JUNE | 2024


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