Officers recognised at awards night for saving lives

(L-R) Colonel Charles Ackroyd, former PS James Cole, CC Scott Chilton

Several Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary officers have been recognised for their incredible work in saving lives.

The officers were presented with commendations at the Royal Humane Society Awards by Chief Constable Scott Chilton and Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire Colonel Charles Ackroyd, following difficult incidents where our officers had to act quickly to save a life.

On 30 April 2021, police were called to a report of a young man who had been stabbed in Slindon Street, Portsmouth, and was bleeding badly.

PS James Cole got there first and immediately applied first aid and pushed his knee down on the wound. PC Sara Hopes arrived shortly afterwards and quickly established a sterile area around the victim. When the ambulance arrived both officers assisted them and PC Hopes later accompanied the man in the ambulance to hospital. The fast reactions of the officers meant the man survived.

The officers were both awarded the RHS Certificate of Commendation for their actions.

PC Hopes said: "Knife crime devastates communities and affects the lives of all those involved. I am not just talking about those who are injured, the perpetrator, or their families. I also mean the emergency service personnel who respond to these incidents and have to deal with the aftermath.

"I take pride in knowing that my colleague and I did everything we could to save the life of the male that day, but what officers have to deal with on a daily basis is far from the ordinary and it is important that if you attend a job like this that you receive the right aftercare from your line managers and are supported. I am not ashamed to say that I accessed support after this incident and it is definitely a job that will stick with me for the rest of my career."

(L-R) Colonel Charles Ackroyd, PC Sara Hopes, CC Scott Chilton

Police Sergeant Shaun Brennan, Police Constables Vasos Gogos, Tom Hillier and Karen Stevenson, and PCSO James Headen were all awarded the RHS Certificate of Commendation.

On 22 May 2022, these officers were called to a concern for welfare incident on the footbridge at Portchester railway station to help a man who was severely distressed and on the wrong side of the footbridge.

PC Hillier, who was a PCSO at the time of the incident, said: "We unfortunately go to high risk incidents like this very often these days. I do not think society as a whole understands the nature of our work and one minute we are at a traumatic incident like this and the next we might be dealing with some low level incident and we’re expected to be as if it never happened. At the end of the day our number one priority is saving lives and that is what we ended up doing on that day."

(L-R) Colonel Charles Ackroyd, PS Shaun Brennan, PCSO James Headen, PC Tom Hillier, PC Karen Stevenson, CC Scott Chilton

In the early hours of 26 March 2023, police were alerted to a woman who was in the water at Stokes Bay.

Police Constable Roy Kimber, assisted by a student officer, immediately entered the sea to try to help the woman and speak to her and requested back up from more officers and the coastguard as he could not pull her out of the water by himself.

Police Constables Simon Tate and Gurdit Singh then entered the water to assist, and together they managed to save the woman.

The woman later thanked the officers, specifically stating that she would not be alive had it not been for Police Staff Controller Dee Court, who kept the woman speaking to her on the phone throughout.

PCs Kimber, Singh and Tate were awarded the RHS Certificate on Parchment. Police Staff Controller Dee Court was awarded the RHS Certificate of Commendation.

(L-R) Colonel Charles Ackroyd, PC Gurdit Singh, PC Roy Kimber, Dee Court, PC Simon Tate, CC Scott Chilton

On 9 July 2023, a man called police telling them he thought people were trying to break into his house in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth. But as PC Jaimie O'Byrne and PS Andrew Way were taking the man’s statement, he suddenly had a seizure and then he stopped breathing. The officers immediately started CPR and, after a few minutes, he started to breathe again and the officers placed him in the recovery position. The officers then had to restrain the male as he became aggressive before paramedics arrived and conveyed him to hospital for treatment.

Both officers were awarded the RHS Certificate of Resuscitation.

PS Way said: "This incident shows exactly how policing can change in a matter of seconds. We initially thought we were attending a break-in which quickly escalated into being faced with a male who went into seizure then cardiac arrest.

"We are thankful that we managed to resuscitate the male and he got the required medical assistance he needed and neither of us sustained any injuries."

(L-R) PS Andrew Way, PC Jaimie O'Byrne

Chief Constable Scott Chilton said: “Our officers are often faced with extremely distressing and traumatic incidents, sometimes on a daily basis. To be able to put aside the emotions of what they are facing and then act quickly to help those in need and save lives of people at risk of danger shows incredible courage and professionalism. I commend every single one of our officers who have dealt with similar incidents and I’m sure the public would join me in thanking them.”