A British Transport Police (BTP) sergeant who was injured during the incident at Manchester Victoria station at New Year’s Eve has spoken about his experience.
Sergeant Lee Valentine, and three other BTP officers, were the first at the scene of the horrific attack and detained a man.
Sergeant Lee Valentine said:
“The past 48 hours have been overwhelming. My team and I are grateful to everyone who sent in messages of support – it really does mean the world to us.
“We had no idea what we were running towards when we heard the screams on New Year’s Eve.
“When we saw the man wielding a knife, instinct took over and we were able to, in company with Travel Safe Officers from Metrolink, successfully detain the male.”
Speaking about the attack, BTP’s Chief Constable, Paul Crowther, said:
“This horrific incident underlines the bravery of our officers, who selflessly ran towards danger to help keep the public safe.
“As the first officers on the scene, their quick-thinking and outstanding response helped to prevent more passengers being hurt and stands as a testament to the Force.
“Whilst this incident is an example of policing at its finest it also serves as a dark reminder of policing at its most dangerous.
“In their efforts to detain the suspect, one of our officers suffered a stab injury to his shoulder.
“I have met with the officer today, along with his colleagues, and I am both humbled and full of admiration at their tenacity and dedication.
“Understandably, incidents of this nature are likely to cause concern, but I would like to reassure the public they are incredibly rare and we have officers on duty throughout the rail network.
“In the meantime, we’d ask the public to remain vigilant and report any concerns by texting us discreetly on 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40.”
If you have a story, video or one-off blog that you would like to share with us, then you can contact our team of former emergency services & armed forces personnel either through our Facebook page, via twitter ( @ES_News_ ) or you can contact us via email: contact@emergency-services.news
If you run or manage a ‘job’ social media account and you would like us to share one of your stories then send us a tweet or a message!
If you would like to write an article that you would like us to share (it can be about anything to do with the emergency services / NHS) whether you serve in the emergency services / NHS or whether you are a member of the public that has had a good experience with the emergency services, then feel free to contact our team; anonymously if you prefer.
We are proud to act as a voice for the Emergency Services & Health Service, with over 500,000 people visiting our website each month.
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
Any attack on Emergency staff MUST be met with severity, Magistrates must refer such cases higher up the Court scale so the Judges, who can impose harsher sentences will be able to deal with them there. A slap on the wrist isn’t enough. Prison with Hard Labour will go a long was in controlling these idiots.