2026 Winner
INSPECTOR BECKY LIDSTER, DS ISLA CRAIGIE, DC ASHLEIGH BOSCH AND PC ALANA WHITBY
Hostage negotiators talked down a man who was holding a baby girl at knifepoint and threatening to kill her
The terrifying and highly dangerous hostage situation unfolded in Edinburgh last June.
The four specialist officers were called in from home and raced to the siege after Scott Bradbury attacked a woman, kicking, butting and punching her, making violent threats and pursuing her into the street.
He then grabbed the nine-week-old child, abducted her and barricaded himself in a third floor flat, threatening to harm her.
The 47-year-old was seen yelling from a window and hurling a chair and bottles at officers, and also said he had a gun and crossbow.
PC Whitby was assigned to speak to the kidnapper, with her three colleagues providing constant support as she talked to him from the hallway outside the flat. The high-pressure situation was made even more critical because the child needed medication by a certain time.
The four officers stayed incredibly calm as Bradbury threatened to slit the tot’s throat and then snatched her back inside the flat after initially agreeing to hand her over.
After four hours, they were able to persuade him to release his tiny hostage and put her down safely on a landing, just in time for her to receive the medical treatment she needed. At the capital’s High Court earlier this year, Bradbury was jailed for five years after he admitted abduction, assault and issuing threats.
PC Whitby, 38, recalled how the stand-off “tested her resolve” and said: “In a moment defined by fear, my focus was on remaining calm, protecting life, and working alongside an amazing team to achieve the safest outcome.”
Insp Becky Lidster, 41, said she had never had a job like this one in 11 years as a negotiator. “The minute that we knew we had the baby safe was just such a relief.
I always say I was just doing my job. But it’s just such a different job, a difficult job – it could have had terrible consequences if we’d not got it right.”