Medal protectors

Hero officers awarded with Scott Medals for bravery

- BY PAT FLANAGAN

GARDAI who faced down armed robbers and terrorists and those risked their lives to save others were honoured yesterday.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly and Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan presented the Scott Medals - the highest honour that an officer can receive.

Nine awards were given, some posthumously for incidents dating back to the 1920s, while others were for bravery more recently.

Among those who received a silver medal in Dublin yesterday were Nigel Murphy and Garda Conor Treacy.

They had been dispatched to attend a report of a gun being fired at a house in west Dublin. When they arrived, the house was ablaze and they were told a woman was trapped upstairs.