Life-saving police constables from Milton Keynes are worthy winners of bravery award

PC David Icke, PC Emily Chapman and PC Nazia Hussain risked their own lives to detain an extremely violent and threatening husband from a blood-covered house in Bletchley.

They were investigating reports of "horrifying high-pitched screams" coming from a family house at around midnight.

Realising they were children’s screams the officers knew they had to get inside the house as quickly as possible and rather than waiting for specialist equipment to arrive they smashed their entry using a neighbour’s hammer.

As they reached the landing, the officers could see a man standing over his wife who he was violently punching about her face and body.

The man turned his aggression to PC Hussain, grabbing her and punching her in the head several times. PC Chapman then discharged her Taser, but such was the man’s aggressive state that it had no effect on him.

She was then forced to use her PAVA spray on the man in a bid to get him to release PC Hussain and to get him under control, but again the deterrent did little to stop the attack.

By now the man had grabbed hold of PC Chapman and was forcing her over the bannister . PC Icke managed to administer more PAVA spray directly into the man’s eyes but he still carried on attacking PC Hussain.

Eventually the officers managed to bundle the man to the ground. Back up then arrived to help detain the man, and the officers could see the devastation his violence had caused in the home.

Three children were in the bedroom, which was covered in blood and vomit, say the officers, who were all injured in the attack.

PC Icke, who suffered a broken hand, said; “We were basically fighting for our lives, and we needed to protect the people in the house already because we don’t know at that point what’s happened to them and the state of their health. We had to control the man anyway we could.”

PC Chapman, who had concussion, said: “It really did get to the point where we would have tried anything to have stopped him, to protect us and the other... I was so worried about him getting back into the bedroom, to the children and wife.

The three officer beat off stiff competition from six other outstanding acts of police bravery to win The Major John Howard Award for Bravery.

They will now be the Thames Valley Police Representatives at the National Police Bravery Awards in London this July.

Thames Valley Police Federation Chairman Craig O’Leary said the officers were life-savers.

He added: “I am delighted for our colleagues. They are very worthy winners. These officers endured what can only be descried as a quite horrific incident. They were, themselves, subject to attack by this offender, and if you read their story it just exemplifies their professionalism, the way they dealt with this individual.

“Having sustained some injuries themselves they have done a phenomenal job in making sure that this offender was brought to justice. That was reflected in the sentence that he was given by the courts. The courts don’t hand out 16-year sentences unless it’s warranted and I think that really goes to show the severity of the job that this team faced on that day.

“Every single one of them, is brave to the core, and they are a terrific example of the professionalism and the bravery that our Thames Valley Police officers show out there on a daily basis.”