Channel 5 Police Interceptors star turned youtuber releases new book after PTSD forced him to leave his job

But Ben Pearson, a former cop from Bingley, was forced to retire when the trauma of witnessing fatalities in his job and bereavement in his personal life took over.

Father-of-two Ben said: “I have driven in the fastest, most dangerous pursuits, arrested murderers, rapists, and high-profile burglars. I even earned lots of commendations for my work, the job I lived for.”

He thrived of taking violent offenders down and bringing them to justice and was even featured in the Police Interceptors' TV series on Channel 5.

Ben said: “But then my mum died and I also had to deal with a child fatality on the roads during this period.

I had a break down during and was later diagnosed with C-PTSD, which put an end to my career.”

This was Ben signing off duty for good which is the reason his latest book is called 1965 Code: 11.

“My collar number which I was identified as was 1965 and Code 11 means ‘off duty.’”

But while Ben needed to retire from the police force so he could recover, there was a huge amount of grief and loss of identity with this not to mention the enormous amount of grief he already felt regarding the loss of his mother.

“The first few months were a blur. I had spent 19 years on the roads for West Yorkshire Police and now I was at home and everything was catching up on me.”

But Ben wanted to do something with his experience in the police and now with mental health issues so he spoke to a few friends who encouraged him to write a book and set up a YouTube channel.

He said: “I never thought I was a writer but when I started writing my first book, it was cathartic. “I’d also started a YouTube channel with Get Your Media and that along with my book flew.

“I couldn’t believe it.”

Ben’s first book Handcuffed Emotions became a best seller as did his second book Hotel Tango 23 and now 1965: Code 11 is the final in the trilogy where he is fully closing the chapter on being in the police force.