IOPC commends seriously injured officer who stopped a suspect falling from window

Police Constable Luke Bowers prevented a burglar from falling out of a window by holding on to him for around one and a half minutes despite having a serious laceration to his arm.

The incident occurred on September 29, 2018, when the MPS received a report at 7.51pm that two individuals in dark clothing had entered a house in Chislehurst. PC Bowers attended with his police dog and made his way into the property to confront two masked men wearing motorcycle helmets, one of whom was in possession of a machete-style knife.

One of the suspects jumped from a window onto a garage and ran away. The officer attempted to detain the other man who tried to climb out of a first-floor window while being held.

PC Bowers attempted to pull the man back into the building but was pulled into the window. The officer received a serious laceration to his arm from a shard of glass. Despite this injury, he held on to the man with one arm for approximately one and a half minutes until other officers were able to assist him. During this time the suspect lost consciousness.

The man was then dropped to another officer who attempted to break his fall. Two officers provided first aid until the London Ambulance Service arrived. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was arrested for aggravated burglary.

A mandatory referral was made to the IOPC by the MPS because of the seriousness of the man’s injuries (broken leg and loss of consciousness) and an independent investigation was launched.

The IOPC received 11 statements from officers who attended the incident, seven files of body-worn video (BWV) footage, an audit file from a BWV camera, medical disclosure and photographs from the injured officer, and access to exhibits recovered from the scene by the MPS.

The investigation concluded in March that the use of force and tactics were a justified attempt to prevent harm to the man from falling and no officers had acted in a manner that would require any further action.

The IOPC said PC Bowers should be commended for his actions and he has since been recognised by the MPS for his bravery.

IOPC Regional Director for London, Sal Naseem, said:“The actions of this officer showed tremendous bravery. Despite sustaining a serious injury to himself the officer truly went above and beyond to ensure the safety of this individual.

“As part of our investigation conclusion we recommended the force acknowledge the good work of the officer as we believe it important that such dedication and courageousness is rewarded. However, we felt it was also equally important to highlight this act of bravery publicly.”

Superintendent Emma Richards of the MPS Taskforce said: “I’m extremely proud of PC Luke Bowers, he’s a huge credit to his team and the Met and was nominated for a Met Excellence Award. I welcome the IOPC recognising the challenges our brave officers deal with on the streets of London every day.”

To view the officer describing the incident click here.