Brighton and Hove's best police officers honoured for their bravery in the line of duty

PC Alison Deller and her partner PC Alec Barratt received the chief constable’s commendation for their 90-minute battle to save a man’s life in Castle Square last August.

They were among 45 Brighton and Hove police officers receiving awards for bravery, investigative skills and public service in a ceremony at Brighton College on Monday.

After finding a man lying in a pool of blood in the street, they plugged the wound with their hands until he was safely into surgery.

PC Deller said: “When we got to him on the street I thought he would die there and then. But as we got to the hospital I thought he had lasted so long, maybe he’ll make it."

At one point PC Deller feared she might faint, but she knew that if she did the man could bleed to death, so instead she stared at the floor for a minute.

The pair were delighted to hear that the victim was discharged from hospital three days later and has since made a full recovery.

Presenting their award, Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith said: “There cannot be anything more important in our work than saving someone’s life.”  

The investigation into the assault is still ongoing and police are investigating new leads.

Six officers who attended the scene of the stabbing of Joe Lewis on Christmas Day were praised for their bravery.

PC Sasha Maddison, PC Stephen Matthews, PC Matthew Smith, PC Rachel Standing, PC Vicki Webb and Acting Police Sergeant Jodie White detained the suspect, gave the victim CPR and helped paramedics try to restart his heart.

Awarding the six divisional commendations, Superintendent Jayne Dando said: “On a day when most of us were enjoying a lunch with loved ones, these police officers were confronted with a wildly different scenario. I almost don’t want to think what you had to witness and assist in.”

PC Smith and PC Webb then proceeded to give Mr Lewis CPR and when medical professionals arrived assisted in a complex procedure to restart his heart.

Acting Sergeant White was particularly praised for her “consistent, clear and unambiguous” leadership of the scene.

Oliver John Parsons, 30, has since been charged with murder and will appear at Lewes Crown Court on March 20. DC Jayne Hayes received a judge’s commendation for her work on a joint Police and Home Office investigation into human trafficking.

After a two-year investigation and a 13 week-trial seven Hungarian men and one British woman were convicted of trafficking women into the UK for sexual exploitation.

The women would be moved between various addresses in the UK, including locations in Brighton and Hove, and they were advertised on various escort websites.

Mate Puskas, Zoltan Mohacsi, Istvan Toth and Peter Toth, and Puskas’s former girlfriend Victoria Brown, from Bognor, brought at least 44 women into the country over almost two years, setting them up in hotels and flats, including at the University of Sussex campus.

In January 2014 five members of the gang were found guilty of trafficking women into the UK for sexual exploitation.

Summing up the trial, Judge Hayward said: “I would like to commend Detective Constable Hayes for the very professional conduct of this investigation. It has been extremely difficult and lengthy, and has required a lot of patience and an enormous amount of hard work.”

DC Hayes said: “Although it was a long investigation, it was easy to stay motivated because of the severity of what was going on, and meeting some of the victims.”

“Initially dealing with that was a challenge but because of what was happening to some of these victims I was determined to bring the offenders to justice and get justice for the girls.”

Mate Puskas was sentenced to six years imprisonment at Hove Crown Court, Istvan Toth five years, Peter Toth four years, Zoltan Mohasci four years and Victoria Brown three years.

In August another two defendants, Csaba Safian and Sandor Mohasci were both sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment, and in November the last man to be sentenced, Attila Kolompar, received two years and eight months.

The convictions were welcomed by DC Hayes, who said: “I breathed a sigh of relief and had a huge grin on my face.

“Breaking the news to the victims was so rewarding.”

DC Hayes said more must be done to uncover and prevent human trafficking.

She said: “There is always a Mr Big or Mrs Big behind this crime.

“You could be standing next to someone in a queue and that person is a victim of human trafficking, and you would never know because of the control and fear.”

Four plain clothed officers – Police Sergeant Dave Bennett, PC Georgina Edge, PC Lizzie Luckman and PC James Conway – were commended for their courage after tackling a man armed with knives.

Four officers who prevented a woman from jumping from a block of flats were given divisional commendations for their courage.

Chief Inspector Dave Padwick, Acting Police Sergeant Andrea Leahy, PC Mark Beaumont and PC Anna Dowglass had gone to an unrelated incident, when a woman jumped from a window and landed on a narrow ledge, 50 feet above the ground. The officers climbed through another window on to the ledge and remained on the precarious ledge for 40 minutes in order to bring her to safety. Three other officers also received a commendation for public service, after they prevented a woman from harming herself with a knife.

Three officers were praised for their investigation into historic sexual offences, which resulted in an offender receiving 21 years imprisonment.

The offences dated back over 35 years, but the offender was eventually convicted of five rapes and multiple sexual assaults.

In a letter of thanks to Detective Sergeant Julie Greenwood, DC Andrew Beaumont and DC Gemma Holley, the victim praised the officers for “believing her” and treating her with “respect and dignity”.

She said: “The feeling of dread I woke up to every day has now gone. This is down to your fantastic team of police officers.”

PC Lee Johnson “worked tirelessly to achieve justice” for victims of child sexual abuse and was commended for his investigative skills.

One of the cases he worked on took a year to complete, but he secured four charges for sexual offences on a vulnerable young victim.

He said: “There was someone who needed help. I was determined to see the case through.”

PC Chris Bacon spent more than a year forced to assess indecent images, checking computers and gathering detailed evidence, resulting in the suspect being charged with eight counts of possessing and distributing indecent images. He received a divisional commendation for his work on the complex investigation.

Other officers honoured included... 

Certificates of Merit went to DS Lawrence Cartwright, Sarah Wratten, Davina Barber, Rosie Iles-Jones and Sarah Gillespie for setting up a surgery for victims of domestic violence.

DC Richard Valder-Davis, DC Tracy Dixon, Detective Sergeant Kate Witt and DC Emily Hoare, PC Paul Nellis and PC Sarah Laker all received Divisional Commendations for being outstanding investigators.

PC Stuart Brown, PC Lucy Goering, PC Matthew King, DC Emma Vickers, PC Kelly Manifeld, PC Andrew Platt and Amy Foster received Divisional Commendations for excellent public service.

PCSO Laura Hall, PC Llewelyn Ap Elfred and Special Constable Peter Marshall were awarded divisional commendations for outstanding front line service.

Special Constables Lara Stockham and Dan Salter received Divisional Commendations for their volunteer work, and Acting Police Sergeant Rosie Stribling was rewarded for outstanding leadership.