TWO South Yorkshire Police constables who contained and calmed a murder scene \u2013 and arrested suspects \u2013 were honoured at the National Police Bravery Awards in London.<\/p>\n
PC Laura Davis (pictured left) and PC Emma Appleby were \u201cnervous but excited\u201d to attend the event at Downing Street and then the evening reception, where they met Prime Minister David Cameron.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pair \u201cput the safety of the public before their own\u201d, during the incident. The officers calmed community tension at the scene, gained evidence from a key witness and arrested suspects following the murder in October 2011.<\/p>\n
In December 2012 a man was convicted of murder and received a minimum sentence of 30 years before being able to apply for parole.<\/p>\n
Speaking outside Downing Street on 17 October, PC Appleby said: \u201cWe\u2019re really excited to be here today. It\u2019s a good experience. Just doing your job and ending up here is really good. We just did what anyone else did.\u201d<\/p>\n
PC Davies added: \u201cIt is a privilege to be here and to be nominated. I\u2019m quite nervous. It\u2019s an important day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim Lucas, secretary of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: \u201cAs police officers, a lot goes unheard of about the work that they do. You have two officers here who were faced with a very serious offence where someone had been killed. There was high tension in the area, they diffused it. It did not escalate. Their only thoughts was to make the area safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
In total 64 officers across England and Wales were nominated for the annual awards.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister David Cameron praised them for \u201cextraordinary acts of bravery\u201d and for the fact that police officers run towards danger when others would run away.<\/p>\n
The overall winner was PC Ian Dibell, of Essex Police, who was shot in the chest by gunman Peter Reeve on July 9, 2012. The 41 year old was fatally wounded after intervening \u2013 off duty \u2013 in a dispute near his home in Clacton. He was posthumously nominated.<\/p>\n
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