This article includes only those serving police officers who were killed as a direct result of a crime or while attempting to respond, prevent, stop or solve a specific criminal act. The list omits war-time deaths by enemy fire, such as the many police officers killed by air raids during the Second World War. [1] The list also omits the more than 300 officers of the former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) killed in paramilitary assassinations or attacks during The Troubles. [2]
Name | Rank | Age | Force | Date of death | Circumstances |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Richard Ellerker | PC | 42 | North Yorkshire Police | 26 December 1993 | Collapsed and died shortly after arresting a violent, drunk suspect [3] |
Robert Chenery Gladwell | PC | 37 | Metropolitan Police | 6 January 1991 | Died three weeks after being assaulted while carrying out an arrest [4] |
Desmond Morgan Acreman | PC | 33 | Metropolitan Police | 12 February 1967 | Accidentally run over while pursuing suspected thieves in Woolwich. [5] [lower-alpha 1] |
Ronald Alan Addison | PC | 24 | Metropolitan Police | 24 January 1960 | Collapsed and died of heart failure while pursuing suspects [6] |
Raja Bashrat Ahmed | PC | 35 | Greater Manchester Police | 31 August 1999 | Motorcycle rammed into oncoming traffic by suspect [7] |
Jane Philippa Arbuthnot | WPC | 22 | Metropolitan Police | 17 December 1983 | Killed in the Harrods bombing [8] |
Alison Armitage | PC | 29 | Greater Manchester Police | 5 March 2001 | Run over by suspect [9] |
Jack William Avery | WRC | 28 | Metropolitan Police | 6 July 1940 | Stabbed |
Edward Alexander Barnett | PC | 24 | City of Glasgow Police | 4 January 1970 | Shot during the Linwood bank robbery. |
Clive Barratt | DC | 35 | Suffolk Constabulary | 28 July 1999 | Motorcycle accident while on surveillance duty [10] |
Andrew Barton | Sergeant | 40 | Northumbria Police | 15 April 1913 | Shot [11] [lower-alpha 2] |
Douglas Frederick Beckerson | PC | 22 | Metropolitan Police | 10 April 1971 | Fell through a roof while pursuing suspect [12] |
Robert Bentley | Sergeant | 36 | City of London Police | 17 December 1910 | Shot during the Houndsditch murders |
Sharon Beshenivsky | PC | 38 | West Yorkshire Police | 18 November 2005 | Shot while responding to an armed robbery [9] |
Brian John Bishop | Acting sergeant | 37 | Essex Police | 27 August 1984 | Shot |
Keith Henry Blakelock | PC | 40 | Metropolitan Police | 6 October 1985 | Stabbed in the Broadwater Farm riot [13] |
Fiona Bone | PC | 32 | Greater Manchester Police | 18 September 2012 | Killed in gun and grenade ambush alongside PC Nicola Hughes |
Roger Brereton | PC | 41 | Thames Valley Police | 19 August 1987 | Shot in the Hungerford massacre [14] |
Ian Nigel Broadhurst | PC | 34 | West Yorkshire Police | 26 December 2003 | Shot during the Leeds police shootings [9] |
Laurence Peter Brown | PC | 27 | Metropolitan Police | 28 August 1990 | Shot [15] |
Gareth Browning | PC | 36 | Thames Valley Police | 1 April 2017 | Struck by suspect vehicle while deploying a stinger in 2013 [16] |
Dugald Campbell | Watchman | unknown | Edinburgh City Police | 3 January 1812 | Killed whilst attempting to stop a robbery during the Hogmanay riots. [17] |
Gavin Carlton | PC | 29 | West Midlands Police | 19 December 1988 | Shot while attempting to arrest armed bank robbers [18] |
Joseph Geoffrey Carroll | PC | 46 | Northumbria Police | 13 April 2006 | Traffic collision while transporting a prisoner [9] |
Stephen Carroll | PC | 48 | Police Service Northern Ireland | 9 March 2009 | Shot by Republican terrorists whilst responding to 999 call. [19] |
Adele Yvette Cashman | DC | 30 | Metropolitan Police | 5 November 2012 | Collapsed while pursuing robbery suspects [20] |
Walter Charles Choat | PC | 34 | City of London Police | 17 December 1910 | Shot during the Houndsditch murders |
Duncan Clift | PC | 27 | Kent Police | 22 March 1991 | Killed off duty while trying to arrest car thief. [21] |
Raymond Anthony Codling | Inspector | 49 | Greater Manchester Police | 14 September 1989 | Shot [22] |
Glenn Russell Corder | PC | 18 | Durham Constabulary | 6 February 1980 | Vehicle crashed during police pursuit [23] |
Raymond Davenport | PC | 42 | Merseyside Police | 4 July 1981 | Killed whilst attempting to stop a stolen vehicle [24] |
Brian Dawson | Sergeant | 42 | Leicestershire Police | 1 September 1975 | Shot during a siege in West Knighton, near Leicester. Two others were also shot dead, with the gunman later being imprisoned on charges of manslaughter. [25] [26] [27] |
Ian Dibell GM | PC | 41 | Essex Police | 9 July 2012 | Shot while off duty and confronting an armed man [28] |
Edward Roy Dorney | PC | 24 | Metropolitan Police | 1 January 1960 | Killed along with Police Dog Gus when hit by a train whilst pursuing burglary suspects. [29] |
Nicholas Dumphreys | PC | 47 | Cumbria Police | 26 January 2020 | Car accident caused by known fault within the N57 engine in the BMW police vehicle he was driving whilst responding to emergency call. [30] [31] |
Patrick Dunne | PC | 44 | Metropolitan Police | 20 October 1993 | Fatally shot while attending domestic dispute [32] |
Yvonne Joyce Fletcher | WPC | 25 | Metropolitan Police | 17 April 1984 | Shot [33] |
John William Fordham | DC | 45 | Metropolitan Police | 26 January 1985 | Stabbed during the Brink's-Mat robbery. |
William 'Bill' Forth | Sergeant | 34 | Northumbria Police | 21 March 1993 | Beaten and stabbed to death after answering a 999 call. [34] |
Geoffrey Fox | PC | 41 | Metropolitan Police | 12 August 1966 | Shot in the Shepherd's Bush Murders, alongside Christopher Head and David Wombwell [9] |
Lewis George Fulton | PC | 28 | Strathclyde Police | 17 June 1994 | Stabbed [35] [lower-alpha 3] |
Roger Philip Goad | CEO | 40 | Metropolitan Police | 25 August 1975 | Killed by an IRA bomb |
Glenn Thomas Goodman | SPC | 37 | North Yorkshire Police | 7 June 1992 | Shot by IRA member Paul Magee during routine traffic stop [36] |
Kevin Declan Gorman | PC | 24 | Police Service Northern Ireland | 23 November 2008 | Car accident whilst responding to emergency call. [19] |
Richard Gray | PC | 43 | West Mercia Constabulary | 6 May 2007 | Shot [37] |
Thomas Green | Sergeant | 51 | Surrey Police | 18 February 1919 | Died following a blow to the head with an iron bar during the Epsom riot. |
Declan Greene | PC | 39 | Police Service Northern Ireland | 23 November 2008 | Car accident whilst responding to emergency call. [19] |
Peter Guthrie | PC | 21 | West Midlands Police | 22 July 1972 | Shot [38] |
George Gutteridge | PC | 31 | Essex Police | 27 September 1927 | Shot. |
David Ian Haigh | PC | 25 | North Yorkshire Police | 17 June 1982 | Shot by Barry Prudom [39] |
Andrew Harper | PC | 28 | Thames Valley Police | 15 August 2019 | Dragged by vehicle while investigating a burglary report [40] |
Christopher Head | DS | 30 | Metropolitan Police | 12 August 1966 | Shot in the Shepherd's Bush Murders alongside Geoffrey Fox and David Wombwell [9] |
Jonathan Charles Henry | PC | 36 | Bedfordshire Police | 11 June 2007 | Stabbed responding to 999 call [41] |
Kenneth Robert Howorth | CEO | 49 | Metropolitan Police | 26 October 1981 | Killed by an IRA bomb |
Nicola Hughes | PC | 23 | Greater Manchester Police | 18 September 2012 | Killed in gun and grenade ambush alongside PC Fiona Bone |
Kenneth Thomas Irvine | PC | 30 | Police Service Northern Ireland | 23 November 2008 | Car accident whilst responding to emergency call. [19] |
Andrew James | PC | 38 | South Wales Police | 2 August 2003 | Accidentally run over while pursuing suspect [42] [lower-alpha 4] |
Ieuan Griffith Jeffreys | PC | 31 | Merseyside Police | 4 May 1941 | Killed investigating an unexploded bomb on aiding duty in Liverpool. [43] |
Karpal Kaur Sandhu | PC | 30 | Metropolitan Police | 4 November 1973 | Fatally injured during an arrest [44] |
Desmond Derrick Kellam | PC | 31 | Wiltshire Constabulary | 3 October 1979 | Fatally injured during an arrest [45] |
Ronan Kerr | PC | 25 | Police Service Northern Ireland | 2 April 2011 | Killed by a Republican terrorist car bomb outside his home. [19] |
John William Kew | PC | 29 | West Riding of Yorkshire Constabulary | 11 July 1900 | Shot [46] [lower-alpha 5] |
Robert Kidd | DS | 37 | London & North Western Railway Police | 29 September 1895 | Fatally injured during an arrest [47] |
Alan King | Sergeant | 41 | Metropolitan Police | 29 November 1991 | Stabbed while questioning a male suspected of handling stolen goods [48] |
Nina Alexandra MacKay | WPC | 25 | Metropolitan Police | 24 October 1997 | Stabbed [49] |
Angus MacLeod MacKenzie | A/DC | 31 | City of Glasgow Police | 30 December 1969 | Shot during the Linwood bank robbery |
James Robert Bawn Magee | PC | 27 | Police Service Northern Ireland | 23 November 2008 | Car accident while responding to emergency call. [19] |
Francis John Mason | PC | 27 | Hertfordshire Constabulary | 14 April 1988 | Shot while off-duty, attempting to prevent an armed robbery. Posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal. [50] [51] |
Ronan McCloskey | PC | 25 | Metropolitan Police | 9 May 1987 | Struck by motor vehicle by suspected drink driver trying to escape. [52] |
Christopher McDonald | PC | 19 | Nottinghamshire Police | 17 May 1978 | Beaten [53] |
Sidney George Miles | PC | 42 | Metropolitan Police | 2 November 1952 | Shot whilst responding to a burglary |
Hugh John Moore | Cmdr | 64 | City of London Police | 4 December 1993 | Collapsed after an arrest |
Jim Morrison | DC | 26 | Metropolitan Police | 13 December 1991 | Stabbed while off-duty attempting to arrest a thief [54] |
Andrew Carl Munn | PC | 37 | Leicestershire Constabulary | 15 August 2002 | Rammed by vehicle being pursued. Same incident as PC Bryan Moore. [55] |
Bryan Moore | PC | 39 | Leicestershire Constabulary | 15 August 2002 | Rammed by vehicle being pursued. Same incident as PC Andrew Munn. [55] |
George Bertram Mussell | PC | 40 | Northumberland County Constabulary | 15 April 1913 | Shot [11] [lower-alpha 6] |
Stephen Robin Oake | DC | 40 | Greater Manchester Police | 14 January 2003 | Stabbed [9] |
Jon Odell | PC | 30 | Kent Police | 19 December 2000 | While conducting speed checks was intentionally run over by disqualified driver [56] [57] |
Keith Palmer | PC | 48 | Metropolitan Police | 22 March 2017 | Stabbed during Westminster terrorist attack |
Jim Porter | DC | 31 | Durham Constabulary | 4 March 1982 | Shot in pursuit of armed robbers. [58] |
Matt Ratana | Sergeant | 54 | Metropolitan Police | 25 September 2020 | Shot while a man was being detained in a police custody centre [59] [60] |
Mandy Dawn Rayner | WPC | 18 | Hertfordshire Constabulary | 13 October 1982 | Vehicle struck during police pursuit. She was the first British woman police officer to be killed in service. [61] |
Phillipa Reynolds | PC | 27 | Police Service Northern Ireland | 9 February 2013 | Killed when a stolen car hit her police car. [19] |
Gerry Irving Richardson | Supt | 38 | Lancashire Constabulary | 23 August 1971 | Shot |
Derek Robertson | Sergeant | 39 | Metropolitan Police | 9 February 1994 | Stabbed during post office robbery. [62] [63] |
Graham Saville | Sergeant | 46 | Nottinghamshire Police | 29 August 2023 | Fatally injured after being struck by a train trying to reach a distressed man on the track. [lower-alpha 7] |
Dennis Arthur Smith | PC | 44 | Devon and Cornwall Police | 21 December 1973 | Shot after high speed pursuit [64] |
George Snipe | PC | 29 | Birmingham City Police | 19 July 1897 | PC Snipe was attempting an arrest at the Star Public House in Hockley, when a mob turned upon him and his colleague PC Mead. They attempted to find shelter in the local church, but a brick thrown at them hit him on the head, with his dying in hospital 4 hours later. |
Ernest Southern | PC | 35 | Lancashire Constabulary | 27 January 1962 | Collapsed attending a violent street affray [65] [lower-alpha 8] |
John Speed | Sergeant | 39 | West Yorkshire Police | 31 October 1984 | Shot while going to aid of a colleague who had been fired on near Leeds Parish Church [66] |
Michael Swindells | DC | 44 | West Midlands Police | 21 May 2004 | Stabbed [9] |
Barry Taylor | Inspector | 30 | West Yorkshire Police | 15 February 1970 | Shot while responding to a burglary [67] |
John Taylor | PC | 26 | Staffordshire Police | 23 November 1986 | Pushed from roof while arresting burglars. [68] |
Robert Chisholm Thomson | ACC | 38 | Edinburgh City Police | 16 July 1940 | Shot [69] |
Stephen Andrew Tibble | PC | 21 | Metropolitan Police | 26 February 1975 | Shot while assisting colleague when off-duty [70] [lower-alpha 9] |
Gary Toms | PC | 37 | Metropolitan Police | 11 April 2009 | Thrown from police vehicle during pursuit [9] |
Charles Tucker | Sergeant | 46 | City of London Police | 16 December 1910 | Shot during the Houndsditch murders |
William Frederick Tyler | PC | 31 | Metropolitan Police | 29 January 1909 | Shot during the Tottenham Outrage |
Gerald Walker | PC | 42 | Nottinghamshire Police | 9 January 2003 | Run over |
Arthur Walls | Inspector | 44 | Eastbourne Borough Police | 9 October 1912 | Shot |
Phillip John Walters | PC | 28 | Metropolitan Police | 18 April 1995 | Shot |
David Thomas Winter | Sergeant | 31 | North Yorkshire Police | 28 June 1982 | Shot by Barry Prudom [39] |
David Wombwell | DC | 25 | Metropolitan Police | 12 August 1966 | Shot during the Shepherd's Bush Murders alongside Geoffrey Fox and Christopher Head [9] |
Ian Wain Woodward | PC | 33 | Lancashire Police | 25 February 1987 | Shot after challenging poacher off-duty. [71] |
James Wright | PC | 38 | Manchester City Police | 20 June 1934 | Run over [72] [lower-alpha 10] |
David Phillips | PC | 34 | Merseyside Police | 5 October 2015 | Run over whilst attempting to deploy a Stop Stick device in a pursuit [73] [74] [75] |
Thomas Bishop | PC | 39 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 21 September 1877 | Fatally bludgeoned with stones by a drunken man he had warned. The incident occurred in Bere Regis following the Woodbury Hill Fair. [76] |
Sidney George Wood | PC | 27 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 26 April 1908 | Died after crashing his bicycle on a steep hill searching for a thief |
Thomas Biddlecombe | PC | 47 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 18 December 1916 | Whilst patrolling Thornford Road, Sherborne, he took severely ill and was taken by ambulance to Yeatman Hospital where he died. |
Wilfred Charles Viney | PC | 31 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 25 July 1930 | Killed riding pillion in a motorcycle collision on plain clothes night patrol. |
Sidney F. Loader | PC | 40 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 8 September 1938 | Fatally injured in a collision with a car while on cycle patrol. |
Alfred E. Head | PC | 46 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 19 October 1938 | Fatally injured in a road collision cycling to court in bad weather. |
Stanley Ivor Marsh | PC | 24 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 9 February 1939 | Died as a result of injuries received in 1938 when he attempted to stop a car. |
Walter Charles Billett | WRC | 61 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 5 July 1940 | Killed in a fall from his bicycle while reporting for duty in the blackout. |
Cecil Robert Budden | PC | 27 | Dorset Constabulary (now Dorset Police) | 19 May 1957 | Fatally injured in a collision with a car while on motorcycle patrol. |
Kenneth Frederick Innell | Inspector | 44 | Dorset Police | 13 December 1982 | Collapsed and died during an incident on duty at Poole Quay. |
Sean Oxford | SPC | 21 | Dorset Police | 7 May 1992 | Collapsed and died during warm up exercises in preparation for self defence training. |
Stephen Wilson | PC | 37 | Dorset Police | 16 May 1996 | Fatally injured in a motorcycle collision while reporting for night duty. |
Ian Leslie Toomer | Inspector | 50 | Dorset Police | 20 April 1999 | Killed in a road collision when his police car crashed in wet weather. |
Ian James Morton | DC | 32 | Dorset Police | 26 October 2008 | Killed in a road traffic collision whilst travelling to report for duty at Bournemouth, in the early morning, when his vehicle left the road and crashed into the wall of a bungalow at Highcliffe. |
Jonathan Mark Hicken | DC | 47 | Dorset Police | 6 October 2019 | Collapsed and died while travelling to duty. |
Kulwant Sidhu | PC | 24 | Metropolitan Police | 24 October 1999 | Died after plunging through a glass panel on the roof of an industrial building while chasing two suspected burglars. [77] |
Key to rank abbreviations:
The murder of Yvonne Fletcher, a Metropolitan Police officer, occurred on 17 April 1984, when she was fatally wounded by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy on St James's Square, London, by an unknown gunman. Fletcher had been deployed to monitor a demonstration against the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and died shortly afterwards. Her death resulted in an eleven-day siege of the embassy, at the end of which those inside were expelled from the country and the United Kingdom severed diplomatic relations with Libya.
Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering the unitary authority areas of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. As of September 2017, the force had 1,108 police officers, 535 police staff, 93 police community support officers, and 86 special constables.
Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall in South West England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of 3,967 square miles (10,270 km2).
The Shepherd's Bush murders, also known as the Massacre of Braybrook Street, involved the murder of three police officers in London by Harry Roberts, John Duddy and John Witney in 1966.
The National Police Memorial is a memorial in central London, commemorating about 4,000 police officers killed in the course of their duties in the United Kingdom. It was designed by Lord Foster of Thames Bank and Per Arnoldi and unveiled in 2005. The project architect for Foster was Peter Ridley.
PC Stephen Andrew Tibble, was a police officer in London's Metropolitan Police Service. During a chase through West Kensington, the unarmed Tibble was fatally shot by Liam Quinn, an American member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
Northumbria Police is a territorial police force in England, responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. It is the largest police force in the North East by geographical area and number of officers. The force covers an area of 2,141 square miles (5,550 km2) with a population of 1.46 million.
Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police officers, 1,619 police staff, 253 police community support officers, 155 designated officers and 208 special constables. The force is led by Chief Constable Serena Kennedy.
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West Yorkshire Police, formerly the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers.
Kent Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the 1,433 sq mi (3,710 km2) and approximately 1.8 million inhabitants of Kent, a county in South East England.
North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the unitary authorities of North Yorkshire and the City of York in northern England. As of April 2024 the force had a strength of 1,665 police officers, 127 special constables, 192 PCSOs and 1,072 police staff. Of the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, the force has the 3rd largest geographic area of responsibility whilst being the 15th smallest force in terms of police officer numbers.
Wiltshire Police, formerly known as Wiltshire Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Wiltshire in South West England.
DC Stephen Robin Oake, was a police officer serving as an anti-terrorism detective with Greater Manchester Police in the United Kingdom who was murdered while attempting to arrest a suspected terrorist in Manchester on 14 January 2003.
WPC Nina Alexandra Mackay was a police officer serving with London's Metropolitan Police Service who was fatally stabbed on 24 October 1997 by a man with paranoid schizophrenia she was attempting to arrest. She is the only female police officer in Great Britain to have been stabbed to death while on duty and her killing was the first of a female officer since the murder of Yvonne Fletcher in 1984.
On 18 September 2012, two Greater Manchester Police officers, Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, were killed by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade ambush while responding to a report of a burglary in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England.
Matiu Ratana was a New Zealand-born British police sergeant who was shot dead at Croydon police station in London on 25 September 2020. He was nearing retirement having served in the Metropolitan Police for nearly 30 years when he became the first police officer to be fatally shot in the UK since the murders of Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone in 2012.
The Elizabeth Emblem is a national form of recognition conferred by the monarch and awarded to the next of kin of members of the United Kingdom emergency services who are killed on duty. It is named in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. It is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross.