HERO WOMAN COP IS KNIFED
■ OFFICER CARRIES ON CHASING ROBBERS DESPITE WOUNDS ■ COMES AS HOME SEC TARGETS THUGS WHO ATTACK POLICE
A COURAGEOUS policewoman helped chase down two teenage armed robbers despite being stabbed in the stomach.
The officer was with a male colleague when they spotted the raiders, both aged 15, being thrown out of a grocery store in Westminster, central London, yesterday afternoon. As they went to the shopkeeper’s aid, one of the youths knifed her in the abdomen.
The thieves ran off pursued by the officers but only got as far as a nearby main road where they were detained with the help of armed police. It happened as home secretary Priti Patel promised longer sentences for thugs convicted of attacking emergency workers. And it comes nine days after police sergeant Matt Ratana was shot dead by a suspect in a custody centre
in Croydon, south London. In this latest attack, the officer was said to have suffered ‘non-life threatening’ injuries and was discharged from hospital last night.
Ch Insp Simon Brooker, of the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘This shows precisely the kind of danger officers face every single day as they work to keep the public safe.
‘For this officer to be stabbed on duty is unacceptable but, fortunately, she does not appear to be seriously injured. I applaud her bravery in responding to this call. This courage is typical of Met officers as they go about their duties.’
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in a statement: ‘My thoughts and prayers are with this brave police officer.
‘Every day our courageous police officers put themselves in harm’s way to keep Londoners safe.
‘I am sure all Londoners will join me in wishing her a speedy recovery. Attacks on our police are utterly unacceptable and perpetrators will feel the full force of the law.’