Bravery award for knife attack POS

COMMENDED FOR TAKING DOWN SOUTHPORT KILLER RUDAKUBANA

- By EMILY CARRUBIA

THREE police officers who hit Axel Rudakubana with a baton and detained him following the Southport murders have been honoured for their bravery.

Sergeant Gregory Gillespie, Constable Luke Holden and police community support officer (PCSO) Timothy Parry were the first officers to arrive on the scene at the Hart Space in Southport last year.

Rudakubana, 18, who murdered Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and injured 10 others including eight children, was confronted by the officers as he stood at the top of a flight of stairs holding a large knife.

The Merseyside Police officers were the "overall winners" of the Police Federation of England and Wales’ (PFEW) 2025 bravery awards held on Thursday, July 10.

PS Gillespie was the first to arrive at Hart Street in Southport and described seeing “chaos”, with “extremely panicked” people in the street, with many having armed themselves with items to use as weapons, the PFEW said.