Brave crime fighters rewarded (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Brave crime fighters rewarded

8:00am Monday 14th November 2005 in

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BRAVE and dedicated police officers were honoured at a special commendation ceremony.

The Waltham Forest borough police award ceremony was held to recognise the hard work of individuals in the line of duty.

Borough Commander George Clarke said they were a way of thanking people for all their work during a challenging time for the Metropolitan Police Service.

He added: "You will all no doubt be aware of the significant increase in demand on the services of the police and also in the scrutiny of our performance during recent years.

"It is to the credit of the officers in this borough that they have continued to perform their duties in such a professional manner. Their hard work and expertise has resulted in greatly improved performance in terms of combating crime, which has been recognised throughout the Met."

Guests of honour at the ceremony at Chigwell police sport club were Martha Ross, whose sons are television presenters Jonathan and Paul, and her husband Tony Phillips, artistic director of the Leytonstone Festival.

Those receiving commendations included constables, sergeants, detectives, probationers and police volunteers.

PCs Philip Mosely, Adrian Brown, Steven Sheppard and Alan Ritchie were commended for bravery and dedication while saving lives at the scene of a fire.

In February police were called to a block of flats in Winsbeach, Walthamstow. PCs Brown and Mosely were the first on the scene and found smoke pouring from a flat and a man inside.

The fire quickly engulfed the property and the officers pulled the man out through a broken window in the front door.

PCs Ritchie and Sheppard then arrived, went into the smoke-filled building and started to evacuate people from their flats.

Several doors were forced on the top floor and a man evacuated. An elderly woman was also helped out of the building.

The officers then went back a second time through the thick smoke to make sure everyone was out.

They, along with a man, were taken to Whipps Cross University Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Reading out their commendation was Det Ch Insp Amon McAfee. He said: "All the officers were clearly conscious of the potential dangers to others and put the safety of the public before theirs, resulting in praise from the chief fire officer."