Going back on the beat after machete attack, Britain’s bravest bobby
‘Donations have been rolling in’
A POLICEMAN who was stabbed in the head with a machete has said he cannot wait to get back on the beat and insisted: ‘ I wouldn’t consider myself brave.’
PC Stuart Outten, 29, was hailed as Britain’s most courageous copper after he captured a motorist who repeatedly knifed him during a routine traffic stop.
Pictured for the first time since the attack in August, he bears the scars from a brutal attack which could have killed him.
Mr Outten was captured on camera lying on his back as his assailant struck, slicing both sides of his head to the bone and almost severing his thumb.
Incredibly, the officer managed to Taser the van driver he had stopped in Leyton, east London, on suspicion of not having insurance, before back-up arrived. He said: ‘I wouldn’t consider myself brave, the incident in question – it’s my job. It is my role – deal with the incident, if it escalates, deal with it.’
He told the London Evening Standard: ‘I’ve been looking after Londoners for the past ten years and I’m looking forward to going back out there doing it all again... hopefully not the same way around as this one happened.
‘Ideally, that night would have played out with the vehicle stopped, I’d find out whether he had insurance and seized the vehicle. I would have carried on with the night shift.’ He spoke out after receiving a bravery award yesterday.
On the night of August 8, the driver pulled out a machete and lashed out at the officer who managed to radio for help and Taser him despite bleeding heavily.
Mr Outten was taken to hospital in a critical condition and had surgery to re-attach tendons in his thumb and stitch his head wounds.
His girlfriend PC Lizzie Mathews, who works in a neighbouring borough, was among dozens of officers who raced to the scene.
Mr Outten sustained lasting damage to his hand and has only just been able to clench his fist without tearing the stitches. He is still not able to drive. However, he insisted: ‘My injuries are healing well. I’m still going through physio and rehabilitation on my hand.’
He is determined to report back for duty in the borough of Waltham Forest on November 12. His father Andy was a Falklands veteran who later served in the Metropolitan Police for 14 years.
Mr Outten said: ‘I became a police officer following in my father’s footsteps. He joined the Met when I was eight, so I got to grow up hearing a moderated version of what goes on in Romford and Havering.’
The officer said he had been touched by the support from the public and colleagues who donated money so he and Miss Mathews could have holidays in Tenerife and New York to aid his recovery.
He said: ‘Donations that have been rolling in have been outstanding. People from all over the country. They feel like they just wanted to show support and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.
‘When I was released from hospital I had a steady flow of visitors, a few hundred cards from random members of the public.
‘Everyone who has given me an address, I will be handwriting a personal thank-you while I’m getting ready for full duties.’
The attack came just a week before Thames Valley PC Andrew Harper was killed while responding to a burglary in Berkshire.
Muhammad Rodwan, 56, from Luton, Bedfordshire, is charged with the attempted murder of PC Outten and will face trial in January.