Brave Essex Police officers nominated for national award

TWO Essex PCs who tackled a man armed with kitchen knives outside a mosque on the day Private Lee Rigby was murdered have been nominated for the National Police Bravery Awards.

PC Dafydd Hughes and PC Gus Morrison turned up to the Al-Falah Islamic Prayer Centre in Braintree at around 7pm on 22 May 2013, just hours after Private Rigby had been attacked with knives and a cleaver outside his barracks in Woolwich, south-east London.

The two PCs were told that a man was threatening to behead someone at the Islamic Centre and had thrown a petrol bomb into the building, setting it on fire.

When they arrived, they found one man on the roof, attempting to escape the smoke, and the suspect in the car park threatening to cut the man’s throat.

As the officers shouted for the suspect to drop his weapons, he turned his aggression on them. Armed with only their batons, PC Hughes and PC Morrison continued forward and managed to subdue him.

PC Morrison then headed to the building, where a large amount of smoke was bellowing out of the open front door. Crawling on his hands and knees, he entered the Islamic Centre and found that it was a military smoke grenade causing the smoke, not a fire. He was then able to make his way upstairs to help the man on the roof.

Mark Smith, chairman of Essex Police Federation, said he was “very proud” of the two officers who had to deal with the challenging incident on what was already a “very sad day”.

He added: “I think it just highlights how we go towards danger when others are running away from it. We are dealing with incidents that the normal member of the public will never come across in their lifetime.”

The suspect – later identified as Geoffrey Ryan, of Brick Kiln Way, Braintree – admitted affray and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon at Chelmsford Crown Court three months later. He was jailed for nine months for what the judge described as a “racial and religiously motivated” attack.

In February 2014, Michael Adebolajo was given a whole-life term and Michael Adebowale was jailed for a minimum of 45 years for the murder of Private Rigby.

The National Police Bravery Awards, which pays tribute to the unsung heroes of the police service, will take place on 27 October this year.