Medal plea for 'forgotten' injured emergency staff

Calls have been made for officers forced to abandon their careers due to injury to be awarded a medal

A former policeman says he wants officers seriously injured in the line of duty to be recognised for their sacrifice.

Ex-Sussex Police officer Tom Curry has called for officers who abandoned their careers due to injury to be awarded a medal after a similar accolade was introduced in 2024 for officers who die in the line of duty.

Mr Curry took more than than 60 injured police officers and emergency service personnel to the Houses of Parliament as his campaign was debated on Thursday.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "It is only right that those who are injured in the line of duty are recognised in the appropriate manner."

Mr Curry had to retire weeks before he was eligible for the long service award

Mr Curry said: "If two police officers go to an incident and both get shot, but one dies and the other suffers life-changing injuries and loses his job, then one is given an emblem but the other is worth nothing.

"The world looks at people with medals as police officers and firefighters, but they see those in wheelchairs with no medals as spectators."

Mr Curry joined the force in 1967, but was forced to retire after being attacked by a group of nightclub-goers in Hastings, suffering serious neck and back injuries.

He lost his job weeks before he would have been eligible for a long-service medal, awarded at the time to those who had served 22 years.

Shaun Berridge was formerly a constable for Surrey Police

Shaun Berridge was a constable for Surrey Police and retired last year.

But, he told the BBC he worked on four years after suffering a serious injury so he could recieve his long service award.

Mr Berridge had a head on crash with a car he was pursuing at high speeds.

He said: "On the back of that, I had my bone removed, I have arthirtis in my spine which will get worse and PTSD.

"The medal represents what I sacrificed while working in service."

'Recognise the sacrifice'

Currently, emergency service personnel seriously injured on duty are only eligible for a gallantry medal, rather than a specific medal, and only then in exceptional circumstances.

In 2024, the Elizabeth Emblem, named after the late Queen, was introduced to honour public servants killed in the line of duty, and is awarded to their next of kin.

Recipients of the emblem include PC Andrew Harper, who was killed after responding to a burglary in Berkshire in 2019.

Home Office minister Mike Tapp told the Commons his father was a career police officer and said his department was "well aware" of the proposals being voiced.

While unable make any commitments in the chamber, he added: "There is clearly cross-party support for this scheme across the House."