East Leake
INSPECTOR A former marine has been appointed to take over command of the neighbourhood policing inspector role covering East Leake.
Key skills and experiences learnt in the forces have stood Inspector Rob Lawton in good stead for a career in policing which has seen him work as a close protection officer for royalty and take a lead role in Nottinghamshire Police’s knife crime team where he helped drive a national trend-bucking reduction in knife crime after it was introduced.
Now Insp Lawton has taken up latest challenge – heading up the local Rushcliffe team as the area’s new neighbourhood commander, covering areas including East Leake.
The new area commander says policing is a career that says he has always admired, even throughout his younger years. Engaging with new groups of people, the varying opportunities and the challenges it presents are all things that he says makes it the perfect career for him.
However, before he was keeping the streets of Nottinghamshire safe, he spent five years serving Queen and country in the Royal Marines in a number of different countries, including Northern Ireland and Iraq.
He said: “I joined up straight after school and spending time serving in the Royal Marines was definitely something which drove home three key requirements they share with the police – discipline, teamwork and the ability to make quick and effective decisions.
“Serving your country in different parts of the world is something that makes you very proud. Your team becomes your family for a while as you work so closely together and having that teamwork was definitely something that helped us do our jobs effectively and kept us safe whilst serving.”
After leaving the Royal Marines, he set about his goal of a career in policing, which started with three years on response in Sutton-inAshfield and Mansfield, meaning he would get called to incidents in the local area.
The opportunity to specialise then presented itself and Insp Lawton joined the firearms team, which is part of the force’s operational support department. In this role, he became firearms trained and also became an advanced driver.
Six months into the firearms journey, he became a close protection officer, meaning he was responsible for looking after royalty and other significant figures when they visited the county.
“I was really fortunate to work with some amazing colleagues and meet a lot of people in this role as they visited Nottingham, including a number of royal visits by
Prince Harry and Prince Charles. It was particularly busy around election periods and I was part of the team tasked with protecting the former Prime Minister, cabinet ministers and other dignitaries when they visited Notts.”
A new, specialist role then came up in 2017 with the formation of the force’s first dedicated knife crime team.
“The two years I spent on the knife crime team were fantastic,” Insp Lawton said. “We were of course a team of officers but we were working as part of the wider knife crime strategy which was introduced at the time, involving the Police and Crime Commissioner and other partners. We were able to work with partners to share intelligence to really make a difference to the community.
“This helped us get weapons off the street, seize drugs, and engage with those involved, or at risk of becoming involved in knife crime early – with the aim of preventing those intent on causing harm to themselves and others.
“The great thing about this role was we could really see the impact our work was having when the statistics came in every year. By the time I left in 2019, we were one of the only forces in the country to have seen a reduction in knife crime at that time, which is completely testament to the work of the team.
The latest national statistics showed knife crime in Nottinghamshire fell by 15 per cent in the last financial year.
Since 2019, Insp Lawton has used his knowledge and experience to help manage work within force as a demand management Inspector and assist other members of staff and new recruits as a people’s inspector. During this role, he would be involved in organising staff and leadership training.
He played a key role in Operation Uplift, the government’s recruitment drive for police officers and staff and helped work out where officers should be placed around the force, making sure areas and departments had a balanced, varied and sufficient team at any given time.
The Inspector says this work was crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic, enabling the force to be able to continue to provide an efficient and effective service. It was essential officers and staff were able to continue their work safely, getting laptops out to those who needed to work from home, facilitating personal protective equipment and sanitising products across the force as well as looking at absences and where people might need to cover certain areas to ensure daily business was still able to be fulfilled efficiently.
“The beginning of the pandemic was of course unprecedented and as the situation developed we had to react very quickly and adapt to how we worked,” he said.
Insp Lawton is a hostage and crisis negotiator, and is also a qualified coach and trained to support colleagues after a traumatic incident.
He takes all this experience with him as he takes on his new role as Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Rushcliffe, a job which he says brings together everything he enjoys about policing and everything he has learned in the past.
CHURCH St Mary’s Church at East Leake have confirmed the appointment of a new organist. Mr Richard Babington has been welcomed to the post and the
Rector, the Rev Tim Parker, says they look forward to working with him to continue the provision of music at St Mary’s.
GRANTED Permission for the erection of a single storey side garage and single storey front extension at 52 Oldershaw Road in East Leake has been granted by Rushcliffe Borough Council.
NEW TERM A new term has started for East Leake’s Lantern Lane Primary School.
Headmistress Mrs Jane Butler, discussing the last term, commented on what they had all had to cope with this past year and, in many ways continue to have to cope with.
”But you have heard all that from me so many times and in reality, all that I really want to say to you now is that, irrespective of everything else still going on, I am without doubt just glad to be back ‘behind the desk.’
“Without doubt, a school is quieter with no children or just a few children in it, but let’s face it, it’s nowhere near as much fun! I couldn’t be happier to have all of our children back in school and just want to thank you all again for supporting your children to return to school so positively, encouraging them to continue to adhere to all of the restrictions we still have in place, and where possible, sending them in their correct uniform.”
The headmistress says the children are now able to enjoy some new ‘freedom’ but by far, the best one for all of the children has been being able to play with their year group friends at play time. “What an absolute delight that was to watch! Roll on normality!” says Mrs Butler.
TIDY UP Residents are being encouraged to Keep East Leake tidy and take part in a village litter pick this weekend, September 18 and 19.
As part of the Great Big Green Week, the litter picks will run from 10 am until midday and from 2pm to 4pm both days.
People taking part are asked to meet at the Parish Council offices, where all the equipment, including litter pickers and hi-vis jackets for children and toddlers, will be provided.
The Great Big Green Week will take place from September 18 to 26 and will be the largest event for climate and nature ever seen in the UK. Thousands of events will celebrate how communities are taking action to tackle climate change and protect green spaces, and encourage others to get involved too
The organisers of the Great Big Green Week say “we are seeing the impacts of extreme weather events caused by climate change on the people and places we love both here in the UK and abroad. The time is now to do everything we can to protect them. Climate change is the fight of our lifetime.”
The organisers also said: ” This year, we in the UK have a huge opportunity to raise the ambition of plans to tackle climate change at home and abroad. The UK is hosting a major UN climate summit, known as COP26, in Glasgow this November. This means parliament and local authorities alike want to be seen as ambitious in tackling climate change.
The Time is Now for a Great Big Green Week that sets the stage for the most ambitious climate summit ever.”
LEAKE WI Now coming out of the difficulties they faced during the pandemic lock down, East Leake WI, with a vibrant new committee in place and an increasing number of members – at least 12 new ones joining the ranks
–activities are back on the calendar and are already confirming a lively future of meetings and the chance to socialise and catch up with the latest news. Members have expressed their delight to see that an interesting programme of speakers has been put together as well as some other events and activities such as their Annual Garden Party, a stroll round Whatton Gardens and enjoying dinner at the Rancliffe Arms at Bunny.
HERO Quick-thinking by a ten year old East Leake boy helped to save the lives of his mother and brother who had allergic reactions to peanuts.
Izaac Peacock, who is now a pupil at East Leake Academy pupil, called for the ambulance service, and helped provide access for paramedics.
He called his dad and grandparents, making sure the dogs were out of the way for when the first responders arrived.
Izaac’s actions helped save the lives of his mother, Clair Peacock, 48, and brother Harry, 14, a year 10 pupil at the same academy.
Mrs Peacock, who works in the fitness industry and looks after owners’ dogs, said: “Harry went into panic mode, luckily Izaac did not.Quite frankly I could have died.”
After the emergency she was on steroids for a while, her face “was like a balloon” and she couldn’t open her eyes.
Harry given the all-clear by the paramedics at the family home in East Leake and Mrs Peacock’s parents stayed with the boys while she and her husband went to A&E at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Mrs Peacock said: “My breathing by the time I got there was not good.The paramedics were fantastic with Izaac, they actually went and showed him how the ambulance worked just to calm him down.. They have got a little whiteboard in the ambulance, they said he could write on it.
“He wrote: ‘ Thank you for helping my mum’.
Dad Nik Peacock, a police constable with Leicestershire Police, said he could not be prouder of Izaac, who is now 12 years old and in year eight at school.
He said:”It brought the boys a lot closer together, being boys with only two years’ difference in age, they are like any other siblings: they are best friends one moment and the worst of enemies in others,But that really did bring them closer.”
The incident happened in January last year, and the family had been watching Eastenders.
Mr Peacock, who had been at work at the Loughborough Police Station, received a call from Izaac and ended up following the first response car.
M r. Peacock said he could not be prouder of Izaac, who is now 12 years old and in year eight at school.
“I got home, I can’t thank the first responders enough,” he said.
Mrs Peacock explained both her sons have processing disorder, a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information, but that Izaac had followed instructions very clearly.
At the time of the incident, because of Mrs Peacock’s nut allergy the household had been “completely nut-free” - but at this point in time it was unclear if the young boys were allergic too.
Mrs Peacock had suffered an anaphylactic shock and said Harry had a “mild reaction”, with Harry being tested to see if he also has a nut allergy.
Izaac has been awarded a commendation for bravery from Leicestershire Police’s Chief Constable Simon Cole QPM.
He has also been awarded a Royal Humane Society Certificate of Commendation.
The Queen is a patron and the society is a national body honouring bravery in saving human life.
Secretary of the Royal Humane Society, Andrew Chapman, said: “A lot of adults would have panicked in a situation like this.