Yorkshire police officers who disarmed 'barbaric' Samurai sword murderers win national bravery award

Four constables with West Yorkshire Police – Daniel Broderick, Elizabeth Brook, Anthony Dutton and Richard Knowles – were confronted with the horrifying sight of the killers attacking Robert Wilson, 53, with a sword and knives outside a pharmaceutical company in Huddersfield in January last year.

The officers managed to disarm the attackers, who it was later discovered had consumed alcohol, cocaine and a drug similar to Xanax, as they tried to decapitate the married father-of-two.

The colleagues received the 2021 national Police Federation award for bravery at a ceremony in central London on Thursday (December 9).

The officers were all unarmed and managed to surprise attackers Kiyran Earnshaw, 18, and Luke Gaukroger, 16, who were slashing at Mr Wilson's lifeless body with a Samurai sword and knife. They gave chase and detained them both using just Tasers and pepper spray. They then attempted to revive Mr Wilson, who died at the scene.

Recalling that night, Pc Brook, who was only a fortnight into the job, said: “It was like a movie – that’s how I remember it. It was slow motion – we didn’t realise what we were seeing.

“A detective inspector later said this was the worst he had ever seen – he said it was absolutely horrendous, and you’ve dealt with it within the first two weeks of your career.”

Pc Dutton said: “The bloke with the samurai sword turned around and looked towards us, but carried on with his hacking, sawing motion just as though if he didn’t care. He didn’t care about what he was doing, and it was just barbaric, inhumane.”

In September 2020, Earnshaw was jailed for a minimum of 22 years and Gaukroger was ordered to serve 16 years and eight months.

The West Yorkshire officers were the national winners from a shortlist of eight regional victors.

Detective Constable Steven Bailey, a City of London Police officer who nearly died after contracting Covid-19, also received the Inspiration in Policing award.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the “dedication and conscientiousness” of all the nominees.

He said: “Acts of bravery in policing are, necessarily and thankfully for us all, commonplace. Every day, local and national media is awash with examples of police heroism. Be it confronting dangerous and violent people, rescuing members of the public or working day and night on the most harrowing of cases, bravery is a defining characteristic of the police.

“It is this unflinching bravery, alongside your dedication and conscientiousness, that inspires my steadfast support for the police.

“I am bowled over by the nominees. You are a credit to your forces and your illustrious forebears in policing. I salute each and every one of you.”

Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales John Apter, who presented the bravery award to the four national winners, said: “Daniel, Liz, Ant and Richard represent the very best of policing, and fully deserve all the recognition they will rightly receive.

“Police officers are committed, dedicated public servants who frequently do extraordinary things to selflessly protect others. The outstanding bravery and professionalism shown by all the PFEW Bravery nominees once again proves we have the best police officers in the world.”