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Stab PCSO in award honour

14/11/2007

TWO top officers from Stalybridge are set to shine at the national policing awards.

PCSO Gary Etchells has been nominated for Community Support Officer of the Year and PC Marie Hodgkinson for Lifetime Achievement in the Jane’s Police Review Gala Awards.

The couple, along with two other nominees from Greater Manchester Police, will travel to London later this month for the glitzy awards ceremony - the police version of the Oscars.

Gary, 47, was put forward for the award after scooping best PCSO in GMP’s own awards last year.

"I was quite shocked but pleasantly surprised," he said.

"It’s quite nice and it’s a justification of what I’ve been doing for nearly five years. You don’t really know how well you do, you only know what people tell you.

"I felt quite humbled really."

The father-of-four hit the headlines in December last year after being stabbed in the neck by a crazed tenant. He was nominated by his colleagues for having the highest work rate of any PCSO in Tameside.

Gary, who lives in Simmondley, Glossop, added: "Every day is different, you don’t know what you’re going to be doing from one hour to the next.

"I love it, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t."

Marie is in line for a lifetime achievement award after almost 30 years of front-line policing. The award is given to officers who have made a significant contribution to their force and community and are role models for new recruits.

Winners will be announced in the ceremony next Thursday, 22 November.