2024 Winner
PC ANDREW McLAUGHLIN AND ALI MALIK
Police officers arrested a dangerous suspect despite being repeatedly rammed by his vehicle and facing death threats
PC Malik was just four hours into his first shift as a police officer when he, and PC McLaughlin, received a call about a suspetc driving a stolen car in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.
When they spotted the vehicle a chase began that a colleague described as being “like something from Starsky and Hutch”.
The stolen vehicle stopped three times and passengers got out and began pelting the police car with missiles, including a brick and metal wheel brace. Each time the driver reversed into the police car before taking off again, leaving it so badly damaged it had to be written off.
Eventually they cornered the car and three men got out brandishing machetes before escaping on foot.
PC Malik chased the driver, who threatened him before being caught as he tried to climb a fence. He threw down his machete before being arrested.
PC Malik, 27, said: “It was very eventful for my first shift. I am told that these kinds of days do not happen very often. It was also important that we managed to get a man highly wanted by the police off the streets and recover a stolen car.”