Tears and laughter as service remembers PC Dave Phillips

POLICE officers, staff and members of the police family from across the UK joined the relatives of fallen PC Dave Phillips on Monday as they paid their respects at his funeral.

Neil Bowles, South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman, and Jim Lucas, Secretary were at the service representing Federation members.

Mr Bowles said: “We are here today on behalf of our members, many of whom would have liked to attended in person but could not. It is important for the Police Service to support each other and the family in times of tragedy and grief when we lose one of our own.”

A £1,000 donation has been made to the memorial fund by SYPF.

Tears and laughter accompanied the 85 minute service on 2 November, where the married father of two was remembered as “Disco Dave”, an awful cook and a fan of bad jokes.

But more importantly, he was described as a fun loving family man, a great husband and father, and a man who “loved being a police officer”.

Before the service, hundreds of uniformed police officers joined a procession behind the funeral cortege to Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, going past Merseyside Police HQ.

The cortege was led by the pipes and drums band of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and officers from Merseyside Police’s mounted department on horseback.

Leading the procession was PC Phillips’s widow Jen and his two daughters Abigail and Sophie.

The number of well-wishers behind them was so great that the service had to be delayed by 30 minutes.

The cathedral service – attended by around 1,500 people – was led by Rev Lyndon Bannon, assistant priest at Willaston Christ Church. The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev Paul Bayes, gave the blessing.

Sir John Murphy, Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, paid tribute to PC 6554.

Sir John said: “He did everything in his power that night to keep people safe… but Dave did not come home.

“Whilst he did not come home, he has left his mark. Professional, Dedicated. A leader and role model. Respected and caring. Everything we want a Bobby to be.

“A man that we were proud to say was one of us… and he was one of our finest.”

PC Phillips’s sister Hannah and his close colleague PC Dave Lamont read tributes. He spoke of his “bromance” with PC Phillips and how they shared a secret passion for soft rock and music from stage show Les Miserables.

He told the congregation about his friend “Disco Dave” and that PC Phillips was “an awful cook who could not make his own sandwiches”.

He also told everyone how he “loved his job”.

PC Phillips’s best friend, Dave George, delivered a Bible reading.

The Phillips family thanked people for the “tidal wave of love, sympathy and support we have received from all quarters of the police, sports clubs and organisations and, by no means least, the general public”.

They added: “Your love and support has helped us through this time of abject misery and pain. We would not have been able to cope had it not been for all of you.”

Pete Singleton, Chairman of the Merseyside Police Federation, said he hoped the day “will show the family the size of the support and respect the whole of the service has for a fallen colleague, and show the public and the rest of the world that the Police Family is a real and tangible entity that rallies round and supports its own in adversity.”

PC Phillips, 34, was killed on duty trying to stop a stolen pick-up truck in Wallasey in the early hours of Monday 5 October.

Five people have been charged in connection with his death, including Clayton Williams, 18, from Wallasey, who is charged with murder.