Group who pinned Lincoln robber honoured among policing heroes

Brave and exceptional Lincolnshire Police staff, volunteers and members of the public were honoured at a special awards ceremony last night.

From a good samaritan who was stabbed while detaining a robber in Lincoln to a ‘coppers’ copper’, and a volunteer who helps victims of crime, the group were recognised for going above and beyond at the force’s Annual Recognition Awards.

Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable Bill Skelly. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable Bill Skelly said when opening the event on the evening of Thursday, October 27: “The awards to be presented here represent the importance of dedication to duty, exceptional performance and professionalism of the police officers, both police and partner staff, volunteers of this force and members of the public.”

The evening was also attended by Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones, Deputy Lieutenant of Lincolnshire John Lockwood MBE, who also acted as presenting officer, and the family of PC Stacey Pyke, who was tragically killed shortly into her service as a police officer.

Meet the recipients

Citizen of the Year Award and Public Appreciation Certificates: Four members of the public (who did not wish to be named)

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

On Tuesday 11 April 2017 a 70-year-old woman called into Barclays Bank on Tritton
Road, Lincoln, with a small bag containing cash collected from charity boxes for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

As she entered the bank a man approached her from behind and grabbed the bag and the woman fell to the floor sustaining injuries to her ribs and face.

‘Mr A’ was in the bank at the time and heard screams for help. He looked toward the doorway and saw the elderly woman being assaulted and falling to the floor.

As the attacker ran from the scene, having stolen the bag of cash, Mr A ran out of the building and pursued him, eventually tackling him to the ground where a struggle ensued.

Mr A was joined by his wife who tried to help her husband as the man shouted that he had a knife and threatened to stab Mr A.

The man then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the hand five times.

Another man, ‘Mr B’, who witnessed the man being detained on the floor went to assist and managed to stand on the man’s wrist and prise the knife from his hand.

A woman, ‘Ms C’, who was in her car outside the bank at the time, witnessed the lady in the bank being pulled to the floor in the scuffle and the man running away.

She got out of her vehicle and ran to help, she saw the knife on the floor and moved it away and out of arms’ reach from the man who was being restrained.

These four members of the public eventually managed to restrain the man until the police arrived and made an arrest.

The man was subsequently charged and convicted of robbery and wounding.

Police said: “As a result of their courage, tenacity and sense of public duty that day, a violent, repeat- offender, who carried out a sickening crime on a vulnerable and elderly woman, was apprehended and imprisoned for a total of nine and a half years.”

Special Constabulary Officer of the Year: Special Sergeant (now S/Insp) Christopher Gow

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The force recognised Christopher as a highly regarded figure in the force.

He has arranged training and support for officers county wide and supported officers through their own personal development, all of which he takes above and beyond the expectations of his line managers.

Stacey Pyke Award for Student Officer of the Year: Constable David Revitt

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The force said: “David Revitt is an outstanding student officer who shows maturity and professionalism that far exceeds his level of service.”

David descried one of his first convictions for “revenge porn” in the county, which was regarded as a complex investigation.

Copper’s Copper: Constable Dawn Young

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The winner of this award is nominated by their peers. The force quotes some of the reasons given for her nomination, including: “She is one of the first to arrive for shift and almost always the last to leave”, and “she is relentless, and doest give up nor let go of the suspect – no matter what”.

Above and Beyond Award: Emma Jackson

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Emma was honoured for her role in Operation Pottery, one of the largest and most complex investigations into modern slavery and fraud that Lincolnshire Police has ever managed.

Emma played an integral role in the production of bundles of evidence, working to high quality and tight timescales.

Volunteer of the Year: Lynn Chantrey. Lynn was also awarded the Chief Constable’s Overall Annual Recognition Award

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The force described Lynn as “the glue that holds us all together.

They added during the presentation: “Without Lynn’s contribution to Op REVIVE we wouldn’t have been able to work with so many volunteers and in turn give the enhanced and tailored support to so many vulnerable victims of crime in the community.”

Outstanding Professionalism: Op Floyd team: Sergeant Rachel Blackwell, Constable Ian Freeman, Detective Sergeant Jennifer Lovatt

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Sergeant Rachel Blackwel played a crucial role in assessing community intelligence gathering in connection with a series of thefts of antiques and investment fraud in Stamford. The estimated loss to the victims of these offences totalled approximately £200,000.

PRIDE Award of the Year: Sergeant Paul Wills

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Paul manages the portfolio of bi-lingual volunteers who are assisting police in the Boston and South Holland area, where there is a diverse community.

The force added: “Paul has attended a number of community events, met with local community action groups and also the local MP. There is now a possibility of employing community connectors who will give out advice on things such as housing, schooling and reporting incidents to the police.”

Award for Outstanding Contribution to Public Service: Constable Rizwaan Chothia

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Constable Rizwaan Chothia is an essential part of the local effort to deliver the Prevent agenda in Lincolnshire which aims to prevent the radicalisation of vulnerable individuals who may be on a path to violent extremism.

Over the past year, Rizwaan’s passion, dedication and work ethic have yielded impressive results in embedding the core messages behind Prevent into the community. Following the adoption of the statutory Prevent duty within the education sector Rizwaan delivered over 250 Prevent training sessions into schools, colleges and universities.

Making a Difference Award: Victim Lincs Team: Olga Babiak, Jess Collings, Emma Fillingham, Hannah Gosling, Sabiha Kathrada, Izabella Kiss, Emily Luxton, Barney Porter

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

In late 2015 Lincolnshire Police were seeing satisfaction levels in victims of crime at 67% in terms of how satisfied victims were with our service.

In October 2015 the Victim Lincs team started work and from the very start, improvements were seen in levels of satisfaction for victims, with increased numbers of contacts for victims, better referrals to Victim Support and increased levels of updates to victims about the cases they had reported.

The team was the first of its kind in Lincolnshire, providing a single point of contact for victims, allowing them to contact case workers directly to ask about their case or seek information from Officers about case progress.