Courageous and inspirational officers were celebrated last night at the first-ever London Police Bravery Awards, hosted by the Metropolitan Police Federation.
The event honoured 11 Metropolitan Police officers and two British Transport Police officers for their incredibly brave acts. Matt Cane, General Secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation, told the audience: “The stories you will hear about tonight are astounding. The bravery is simply the best of London policing.”
Three of the nominees were named overall winners, becoming the Met Police Federation’s nominees for the 2025 National Police Bravery Awards in July. The first winner was PC James McDowall, who tackled an armed man who pointed a gun at his head. PC McDowall said: “Throughout my career I don’t think I’ve ever really feared for my safety before, but I did then.”
The second overall winner was PC Mohammed Raja, who was off-duty when he single-handedly broke up a vicious fight involving 20 people. He said: “Due to the immediate danger this group was posing and the fact that they were using weapons, I couldn’t stand aside…I didn’t want members of the public to be further impacted by this, and I just wanted to protect life.”
The third overall winners were PC Aaron Prayter and PC Alfie Challis. In 2021, they apprehended a dangerous man with a sledgehammer who had just tried to murder two members of the public. They were praised for running towards danger, saving lives and getting an attacker off the streets.
Also celebrated on the night were PC Laura Gillings and PC Daniel Harkin from the Metropolitan Police and PC Joel Cotter and T/Sgt Daniel O’Sullivan from the British Transport Police, who worked at great height to save the life of a man above dangerous train tracks. They put their own safety at risk to lean over the edge of a railway bridge, with nothing to stop them falling onto overhead wires of 25,000 volts.
The ceremony also honoured PC Dan Burdett, who was off duty when he courageously jumped onto live train tracks to give first aid to a severely injured man. As he was tending to the victim, PC Burdett had to shout to station staff to stop the train that was due to arrive in a few minutes’ time, concerned that it would hit him.
PC Bobby Hicks was presented with an award for his bravery in confronting carnage in an East London pub after a gang machete attack – he was single-crewed at the time. Fights were still breaking out in the pub as he administered first aid to the badly injured victims; he then helped gather the evidence to send the offenders to jail.
Also celebrated were PC Leunik Bytyqi, PC Catherine Powell and PC Niall Stephenson, who spent a staggering 50 minutes precariously suspended high over a bypass in Central London to stop a man from falling to his death.
Metropolitan Police Federation General Secretary Matt Cane also presented a special award to Colin Reynolds, in recognition of his many years of dedicated service to the Metropolitan Police Federation.
The Gold sponsors of the London Police Bravery Awards were Metfriendly, Axon and Officer Insurance Cover, part of the Ardonagh Group.
Also sponsoring the awards were Silver sponsors Bluline and JMW Solicitors; and Bronze sponsors Slater and Gordon Lawyers, Police Mortgages, Accord, THB Solicitors, Blackfords LLP, the National Police Healthcare Scheme, Uniform Mortgages and Penningtons Manches Cooper.
