PC Andrew Harper's mother backs honour for injured emergency workers
The Home Office said it was considering proposals about recognising injured emergency service personnel.The Elizabeth Emblem, named after the late Queen, was introduced in 2024 and is given to the next of kin of deceased police officers, firefighters and public servants in recognition of their loved ones.However former Sussex Police officer Tom Curry said it was a "scandal" there is not similar recognition for those who were received injuries on duty that were serious enough to end their careers.Now 75, he had to leave the force in1989 after suffering serious neck and back injuries while attending nightclub brawl, weeks away from being awarded his long-service medal.He is leading a campaign to recognise officers who, in many cases were injured alongside colleagues who died, but unlike their colleagues' families, received no official recognition of the impact on their lives since.He highlighted cases including the IRA bomb at Harrods in 1983 in which three police officers were killed and a further 14 injured. "In many cases their actions were the same as those who were killed, but they've been ignored or forgotten. You feel worthless.""If I go to a Remembrance Day parade, I've got nothing to show that I was ever a copper."
PC Harper, 28, died when he was dragged for more than a mile along a road by a getaway car, near Stanford Dingley in Berkshire, on 15 August 2019.He had been married for just four weeks before his death.Ms Adlam said she was supporting the campaign "for Andrew's colleagues"."[Injured emergency service personnel] suffered mentally and physically through their bravery and had no recognition of their sacrifice."They've left their jobs and their lives have just ceased - I'm worried about the mental state of people."Police and other emergency services is a vocation - there is a reason why these people do it, but if they feel brushed aside, it means they question a lot of things."What happened to them may be just five minutes on the news, but they have to live with it for the rest of their lives," she added.
More than 30 seriously injured personnel are due to gather outside Parliament and meet MPs on Tuesday. Mr Curry said his campaign has the support of more than 270 MPs from all parties.The Home Office said: "This government recognises the courage of emergency service personnel injured in the line of duty."That is why the Policing Minister has met with stakeholders to discuss the introduction of medals and is paying close attention to the campaign."The proposals are being considered and an update will be provided in due course."
You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Woman said she was ‘Jesus sent to eliminate evil' after killing landlord and cat
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Email * SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A woman said she was 'Jesus' and had been 'sent to eliminate evil from the world' after battering her 72-year-old friend to death and stabbing his pet cat in the neck, a court has heard. Habiba Naveed, 35, previously denied the murder of her landlord Christopher Brown, but pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. She also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to his cat Snow by stabbing him in the neck on or before August 15 last year. At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Judge Sarah Munro KC imposed a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act and a restriction order under Section 41 – meaning Naveed can be detained indefinitely. At the time of the offence, Naveed, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was 'psychotic' – while her mental health had 'deteriorated' in the days preceding the attack, the court heard. Prosecutor Kerry Broome told the court Naveed believed she had connections to the royal family and was Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed's daughter. After the attack, Naveed told her brother 'she was Jesus and had been sent to eliminate evil from the world', and later said to police 'the devil attacked me last night and I won,' Ms Broome said. The court heard Naveed had also told police she 'slept in coffins', and Jesus had raised her from the dead. The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after Mr Brown's body was discovered under a dressing gown in the living room of the home he shared with Naveed in Polsted Road, Lewisham, south-east London. The house cat, Snow, was also found dead having been stabbed in the neck. Ms Broome said of a previous account of the attack given by the defendant: 'She believed she had seen the deceased kill his mother and that the deceased was evil.' 'She heard a voice telling her to kill him three times,' she said, adding that Naveed hit Mr Brown with a pan and then strangled him. 'She believed the evil spirit had jumped out of the deceased and into the cat.' 'She got a knife and she cut the cat's neck,' Mr Broome added. The pair had lived together at Polsted Road for several years, during which Mr Brown was persuaded to put the property, which he had inherited from his parents, in both his and Naveed's names, the prosecutor said. The house was refurbished and lodgers were taken in, which Naveed orchestrated, the court heard. In the days leading up to the attack, Naveed's family were concerned at the state of her mental health – leading them to call 111 and call an ambulance, the hearing was told. Sentencing, Judge Munro told the defendant: 'You attacked Chris between around 11pm and 11.50pm on August 14. 'You hit Chris a number of times to the head with a saucepan which broke in the process; you then sat on him breaking his ribs and strangled him. 'You then slit the cat's throat before leaving Chris covered in a dressing gown alone and dead or dying in the living room property where he was found by Mr Rizwan (a lodger) when he returned to the house at 2.15am on 15th. 'You left a bloodied knife with which you had cut the cat's throat nearby.' She added: 'The consultant forensic psychiatrist was of the view that the injuries fitted your account which shows that you were conscious of exactly what you were doing as you killed Chris.' The judge said two psychiatrists agreed on the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and that Naveed had 'no insight' into her mental health, diagnosis or symptoms. Naveed repeatedly became aggressive during previous hospital admissions and had been off her proscribed medication for a year at the time of the killing, the court heard. The defendant was a frequent user of cannabis which exacerbates her symptoms but, did not cause her psychosis, according to psychiatrists, the judge said. Mitigating factors beyond Naveed's mental illness included her lack of any serious previous offending, while aggravating factors included her use of strangulation and a weapon, the judge added. A post-mortem examination found that Mr Brown, who was a lawyer, died from blunt force trauma. In a tearful statement, a colleague from Mr Brown's law firm told the hearing that the victim would have helped anyone if he could, adding that Naveed had taken away any 'future memories'. She said: 'He wasn't just a 72-year-old-man tragically killed by his housemate, he was a solicitor, a boss, a partner, a kind man.' In a statement read out by Ms Broome, Mr Brown's cousin described him as a 'kind and caring person' who would go out of his way to help his family and his clients. Naveed attended the hearing via video-link and only spoke to confirm her identity.
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Scottish airport fined £144,000 for failures that led to death of employee
The company that runs Glasgow Prestwick Airport has been fined more than £144,000 for failures that led to a member of airport staff falling to his death when a guardrail gave way. Joseph Dempsey, an experienced member of the airport's ground handling team, died in the incident on January 11 2023. The 59-year-old had been preparing to unload cargo from an aircraft using a pallet loader. He had positioned the loader alongside the aircraft and was repositioning a guardrail when it suddenly gave way and he fell to the tarmac some 10 feet (three metres) below. Mr Dempsey's colleagues immediately went to his assistance and paramedics attempted CPR and advanced life support. However, these efforts proved unsuccessful and Mr Dempsey was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that one of the guardrail posts had completely fractured, and that there were visible signs of significant corrosion, discolouration and flaking white paint around the area. At Ayr Sheriff Court on June 25, Glasgow Prestwick Airport Ltd pled guilty to a breach of health and safety legislation, having failed to ensure the pallet loader was maintained and in good repair. At the same court on Thursday, the company was fined £144,050, including a victim surcharge of £10,050. Debbie Carroll leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). Speaking after the sentencing, she said: 'Joseph Dempsey lost his life in circumstances which could have been avoided if Prestwick Airport had in place a suitable and adequate maintenance and inspection programme to ensure the equipment he was using was in a good state of repair. 'This prosecution should remind duty holders that a failure to fulfil their obligations can have fatal consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.' Metallurgical examination of the guardrail posts carried out during the investigation found differences in chemical composition, manufacturing, and wall thickness which indicated the posts were manufactured from two different tubing sections. The HSE found these welded sections were not a feature of the manufacture's original design, and appeared to have been modified while the loader was under the ownership of Prestwick Airport. The investigation also found the welds on both the guardrail posts contained defects which would allow moisture in, creating a corrosive environment and speeding up deterioration. It was also found that the maintenance programme in place at the time did not cover the parts of the guardrail where failure or deterioration could lead to health and safety risks. Graeme McMinn, HM principal inspector of health and safety, said: 'Employers have an absolute legal duty to ensure that equipment they use at work is maintained in an efficient state and in good repair and full working order. 'This incident is a tragic reminder of what can result when that does not happen.' Since the incident, Prestwick Airport has undertaken a review of all work at height, and checks of the guardrails on the platform loaders have been made part of the regular service and inspection schedule.
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Loose Women sex tape panic as Coleen Nolan and Nadia Sawalha targeted by scammers who threaten to leak clips of them 'enjoying some alone time'
Loose Women panellists Coleen Nolan and Nadia Sawalha have opened up about being targeted by scammers who threatened to leak intimate videos of them 'enjoying some alone time.' Speaking on the ITV panel show, the pair candidly revealed the terrifying ordeals they had been subjected to by fraudsters trying to extort money from them. The topic of sex extortion has been circulating in recent weeks, as evidence emerges that sex scammers drive teenagers to take their own lives out of fear of what would happen if their intimate photos were leaked. Actress and TV personality Nadia Sawalha shared that she received a 'sextortion' email just days earlier, beginning crudely: 'Hello pervert.' The 60-year-old said: 'The email read "We have all the videos of you having a happy time - giving yourself some alone time." 'And I thought, "I don't think I have any videos of that." But then I felt fear again because, with deep fakes, could there be?' 'Deep fakes' are videos of a person in which their face or body has been digitally altered so they appear to be someone else. For example, someone's face could be digitally applied to the body of someone else performing a sex act - although the innocent party had no involvement at all. 'I felt anxious,' Nadia continued. 'I'm a 60-year-old woman who's listened to countless podcasts about this. 'I know the information, I've read stuff about it, I've read terrifying stories about children killing themselves.' She added: 'Because I had all that information, by the time I got to the end of the email, I simply deleted the email because I knew that this was a phishing expedition.' In the modern dating era, the panellists said, it is not uncommon for youngsters to share sexual photos or videos with their partners - meaning they are much more susceptible to such scams. Singer Coleen Nolan, also 60, revealed she had 'the exact same' experience around 18 months ago. Coleen explained how panic set in when she realised someone could have hacked her phone. 'Reading down, it said, "We've got all your videos and what you've done." I was just like, "Please can you send them to me, I'd be interested in seeing them as I've never made one in my life." 'But it was horrendous,' she added, while Nadia said: 'You do feel panicked, don't you?' Coleen continued: 'I knew I hadn't made the videos but had they hacked into my phone? Were they going to lie on that? 'They said they were going to send it to my family and my work and kids. I did click in and then I deleted it.' The discussion follows a powerful Channel 4 documentary titled Hunting My Sextortion Scammer, which sees Rizzle Kicks musician Jordan Stephens fly thousands of miles to confront a fraudster. The 33-year-old, who is one half of the pop duo alongside Harley Alexander-Sule, also 33, 'gets himself sextorted' to expose the tactics criminals use to sexually blackmail young British men and boys. He tracks down his blackmailer and attempts to confront them. In an exclusive clip obtained by MailOnline, the music star tries to keep his cool as he has a calm conversation with his scammer on the phone via Instagram. Jordan tells viewers: 'It sounds like my sextorter is getting more and more wound up,' as the camera zooms in on their conversation on the social media app. The scammer messages him: 'Show me your account now,' to which Jordan replies: 'No, I've already paid.' The sextorter tells Jordan: 'No, is not working bro' alongside three angry face emojis. Moments later the singer gets a call and answers with: 'Hello.' The scammer replies: 'Let tell you something now. I swear down with my life if you don't even try to understand me, I swear down, I'll destroy your life. 'It's better you get me $200 now.' Jordan replies: 'I gave it to you! I gave it to you!' He then tells viewers: 'I need my sextorter to believe he'll get his money if he clicks on that share location link on our fake gift card site.' The scammer says: 'I don't know how to redeem it. Do you want me to destroy your life?' Jordan tells him in a panic: 'I don't have any more money. You put the code in.' 'It's not working, I swear down,' the fraudster says. 'I've done it several times. It's not working. 'You should redeem the card at your place and then send me $200 back. Then I free you!'
