A BRAVE police officer and his dog stopped an armed robbery when trying to find suspects in Benfleet.

Sgt Jamie Edwards and Police Dog Diesel were carrying out searches for the suspects in two knife point robberies in Benfleet when they lept into action. 

When Sgt Edwards saw a third robbery in progress, he and PD Diesel jumped out of their vehicle and confronted them.

One of the suspects ran off and was detained by PD Diesel.

Sgt Edwards and PD Diesel have now been recognised alongside four other police dog handlers for their achievements at the The National Service Dog Bravery and Achievement Awards.

They were presented by Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Jennifer Tolhurst, at a ceremony at Ingatestone Hall on Saturday.

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Sgt Edwards won the award for bravery, while other achievers were: 

  • Outstanding Achievement: PC Jim Beaird developed an innovative training technique for explosive detection dogs to respond to laser targeting which means they can search areas quicker than just by their nose alone.
  • Outstanding Achievement: PC Gary Lambert is another one of our trainers and trained Essex’s first forensic recovery dog. These specialist dogs are especially helpful to investigators looking to find people who have died.
  • Outstanding Achievement and Dedication to Duty: Sgt Paul Screech, who has been a dog handler for 16 years, was commended for his work to expand the number of specialist dogs in the unit and for ensuring the highest standards of welfare to keep them fit and healthy. He was also honoured for helping other trainers to widen their knowledge and skills.
  • Outstanding Achievement: PC Andy Gaw trained our already smart search and general purpose dogs to sniff out drugs, increasing the unit’s capability to help with drugs investigations. He also sourced another clever canine to be Essex Police’s first Digital Detection Dog.
  • An Outstanding Achievement Award was also handed to Linda Belgrove and Frank Belgrove from the Essex Retired Police Dog Fund for their work to promote the welfare of retired police dogs.

Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills, who is also the National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Police Dogs and represented Essex Police at the awards, said: “We are immensely proud of our Dog Section and it was a real honour to see their hard work recognised at the National Service Dog Bravery and Achievement Awards.

“They achieve outstanding results every day to help catch criminals, which is testament to the innovation and commitment of our dog handlers and trainers – and, of course, our fantastic police dogs.”