Four police officers attacked by a schizophrenic wielding a 12-inch knife have received awards for bravery.
Three of the men were stabbed tackling Christopher Haughton in a butcher’s shop in Kingsbury, and the other, Pc Stephen Barker, 30, was bitten.
Pc Tom Harding, 27, narrowly escaped with his life after he was stabbed several times in the stomach and chest, and later needed nine inches of intestine removed. Pc Alistair Hinchliff, 30, was slashed across the face and Pc Andy Robb, 39, was knifed in the leg.
All four were among 21 officers and members of the public who received the bravery awards from Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.
Haughton was convicted of attempting to kill two police officers during the attack in 2011 and ordered to be detained without limit in Broadmoor. Pc Harding said: “I owe my life to the bravery of my colleagues. I cannot praise them enough for their courage in what was a harrowing ordeal. I believe they represent the finest officers of the police service.”
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Two other police constables, Wayne Stevens, 31, and Mike Sheather, 46, were also honoured for their bravery after being shot at as they chased a gunman in south Croydon in July 2011.
The officers caught two suspects and pursued a third. The man, later identified as Damian Devine, a gun-obsessed gangster, turned and fired two shots at Pc Stevens from a 9mm handgun, one of the bullets hitting him in the arm.
Pc Sheather and his police dog “Boz” checked his colleague was okay and continued the chase. Devine was tracked down later and jailed for 24 years for attempted murder.
A Royal Humane Society award was presented to former Detective Chief Superintendent Susan Hill, who has since retired, and Sergeant Pippa Wilson, 34, after they commandeered a “cherry picker” to save the life of a man who was threatening to jump from a building in Piccadilly Circus. Sir Bernard, speaking at the awards ceremony yesterday, said: “These officers are all outstanding and I am very proud of what they do and have done for the Metropolitan Police.”
