2022 Winner
PC Clare Chalmers
Lone female police officer who bravely tackled a knife-wielding attacker.
Constable Clare Chalmers was on her way home after a 10-hour shift when she was called back to reports of a violent man at a home on the Isle of Mull.
As the nearest on duty officer was some distance away, the officer attended single crewed. When she arrived, she found a woman with a bloodied face who said she had been assaulted by a man and that he was still at large in the property.
PC Chalmers found him hiding in another room under a duvet. Without warning, he produced two knives and threatened to stab both the officer and the victim.
The officer pulled out her PAVA spray, and used it to disarm the man. She shouted at him to drop the weapons and was able to remove them and lead the woman to safety.
The man stayed in the property – threatening the women while they waited for backup. But PC Chalmers made sure the injured woman was safe and well, and set up a cordon around the property until officers arrived by helicopter.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Clare’s instinctive and courageous actions resulted in the arrest of a violent offender who subsequently received a custodial sentence.”