March 02, 2010
Officers Save Man’s Life After River Jump
Three police officers saved a teenager’s life on Saturday after he jumped into the River Great Ouse.
Fortunately for the 17 year old, two of the three officers who came to the rescue are competition-standard tri-athletes.
Sgt Ian Stoughton and PC Martyn Hynes from the Roads Policing Unit, lost no time in stripping off their stab vests on Saturday (Feb 27) afternoon and plunging into the middle of the Ouse where it is at it’s most dangerous to drag the man to safety.
Ian and Martyn entered the water from opposing banks and met in the middle of the river where the man was already floundering in the notoriously fast undercurrents and struggling to keep his head above the water.
The man had been detained by security guards after an alleged shoplifting incident in the Harpur Centre, but had managed to get away and had run behind the back of Bedford Magistrates Court and along the river path when police were called to assist. He then hurdled the barrier on the footpath and leapt straight into the river where it is at its widest.*
But within seconds he was in serious trouble. First officer on scene, PC Tim Smart, radioed colleagues and other emergency services for help, and Ian and Martyn, who were on patrol in their ANPR** Interceptor cars nearby, realised that unless they used their off-duty skills, the man was going to drown.
“When we got to him he just about managed to whisper ‘help’,” said PC Hynes. “We’re used to open water conditions because of the competitions we do but even so I was finding it hard going. He was in the middle where the river divides for the bridge and the currents are terrible, and on the top of that it was the temperature of the water that was really dangerous.”
The pair were able to bring him to shallower water near the bank where Tim had managed to find a life buoy and helped them all in to safety, watched by a crowd of Saturday afternoon shoppers.
“I am in no doubt that if the officers had not gone into the water the man would have drowned. He was immediately struggling from the moment he entered the freezing cold water. The officers acted without hesitation and in entering the water placed their lives at risk to save another,” said the day’s duty patrol sergeant Luke Kennett. “Had the officers not acted the day’s events would have ended on a tragic note.”
All three officers will be put forward for a commendation for their quick thinking and brave actions.
