Trevor Lock, unassuming policeman awarded the George Medal for his bravery in the Iranian Embassy siege

Yahoo

01-04-2025

Trevor Lock, who has died aged 85, was the police constable taken hostage by terrorists during the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980; for his bravery he was awarded the George Medal, although many in the force felt that his six days of sustained courage merited the highest award of all.
Lock was born in Gants Hill on April 14 1939 and educated locally. Later described in the 1980 Hamlyn publication SIEGE! as 'one of the solid, dependable and unambitious men on whom the Metropolitan Police relies', he joined the force in 1965 and was posted to Dagenham police station. He served there for 15 years as a beat constable before volunteering for duty with the Diplomatic Protection Group, which is responsible for guarding the premises of diplomatic missions in central London.
It was on Wednesday April 30 1980, while still on six months' probation with the DPG, that Lock was assigned to guard the Iranian Embassy at Prince's Gate, off Knightsbridge, regarded at the time as one of the less vulnerable targets for terrorism in the capital.
Having taken advantage of the door-keeper's offer of a cup of coffee, Lock was actually inside the front entrance of the embassy when six armed men burst in and overpowered him. Lock's commanding officer, Chief Superintendent Roger Bromley, head of the DPG, later said that that cup of coffee undoubtedly saved Lock's life, for the chief superintendent was well aware that if Lock had been at his post and had drawn his pistol, he would have been shot down in cold blood.
The terrorists, the self-styled Group of the Martyr Muhyiddin al-Nassr, whose object was to secure the release of political prisoners in Iran by their actions, seized the embassy and took hostage the 26 persons who were there at the time. Apart from Lock, the hostages included two BBC men, Simeon Harris, a sound recordist, and Chris Cramer, a news organiser, who were in the embassy applying for visas to go to Iran; and the embassy's British chauffeur, Ron Morris.
Throughout the six days of the siege, Lock managed to keep his service revolver secreted, and acted as a calming influence on the volatile terrorists and a pillar of strength to the agitated hostages. Properly dressed at all times, he presented to them, and subsequently to the world at large through the medium of television, the image of the archetypal London policeman in the mould of the fictional Dixon of Dock Green.
At one stage, when technicians were placing listening devices in the wall of the embassy, the leader of the terrorists became suspicious of noises. He suggested to Lock that police were trying to break in and ordered him to investigate.
With superb theatrical mime, Lock took a plug from a wall-socket and listened. Then he took up the carpet and pointed to a hole in the floorboards that ran beneath the skirting. 'This building is over a hundred years old,' he said. 'I expect it's mice.' Everybody laughed, including the terrorists, and calm was restored.
During the six days, five hostages were released by the terrorists, but a violent resolution to the siege became inevitable when they murdered Abbas Lavasani, the press attaché at the embassy, and left his body on the steps of the mission with a promise to murder further hostages at the rate of one every 30 minutes.
A detachment of the Special Air Service, which had been standing by at Duke of York's barracks, was called in by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to resolve the impasse. The assault by the SAS, captured on television as it happened and broadcast around the world, began when black-uniformed figures abseiled down to the first-floor balcony from the roof of the embassy while others effected an entry at the rear.
As the first SAS man entered the building, PC Lock grappled with the leader of the terrorists, his action undoubtedly saving the soldier's life. The SAS man shouted to Lock to stand away and promptly shot the leader dead. Four further terrorists were killed by the SAS and the sixth taken prisoner.
Within 11 minutes the attack was over. While it was going on, one Iranian diplomat was shot dead by the terrorists and another wounded, but the remaining 19 hostages were released unharmed.
Lock was subjected to the attentions of the world's press, his first interview taking place at Scotland Yard in the presence of the Commissioner, Sir David McNee – who, having told viewers that they had heard of courage, invited them 'now to look upon it'.
Lock, at times bemused by all the attention, appeared as solid and reliable as he must have been during the siege itself, and captivated the nation by his very ordinariness. To the world at large he was the genuine London bobby, living up to all the impossible expectations of a fickle public.
His fluency in the face of television cameras belied his true feelings, for Lock was a shy man, and said on more than one occasion that he was looking forward to getting back to work.
He was totally unprepared for the adulation and praise heaped upon him. Almost immediately he was made a freeman of the City of London, but had to seek an advance from the Commissioner to buy a suit for the ceremony, never having owned one before.
Interviews with television and press followed in abundance, but throughout, Lock, with typical self-effacing phlegm, played down his own courage, more or less dismissing his actions as part of his job.
Not unnaturally, he was somewhat nervous about resuming duties with the DPG, and a post was found for him as an observer with the police helicopter unit. While waiting for this posting to take effect, Lock's award of the George Medal was announced, and his fellow officers in the DPG, who in common with all policemen will allow a colleague to be a hero for a day but no longer, marked the occasion with a cartoon. Appearing anonymously on the DPG noticeboard, it depicted Lock in a helicopter with a distinct list to port. The caption was: 'You're not supposed to wear it up here, Trev!'
Although police regulations allow the Commissioner to promote, out of turn, any officer who has displayed exceptional qualities, there is a perverse impediment: the officer must have passed the qualifying promotion examination. Despite the outstanding leadership displayed by Lock during those six days, he was never able to pass that examination and joined the M11 motorway control unit, retiring from the force in 1992.
Following the death of his first wife in 1971, Trevor Lock married a nurse and former policewoman, Doreen, who died in 2024; he had three children with each wife.
Trevor Lock, born April 14 1939, died March 30 2025
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