PC Chris Burnham 'won't be held back' by hit-and-run injuries

A police officer who suffered a fractured skull during a hit-and-run crash has returned to policing and said it "won't hold him back".

PC Chris Burnham, 48, was in an induced coma after suffering head injuries in Coventry on 25 September 2019.

A year on from the crash, he is still unable to run and has taken a job with Coventry Police's partnerships team.

"We do a dangerous job," he said. "We are in a role where when it goes wrong, it can go wrong very quickly."

PC Burnham is still affected by his injuries but has returned to policing

The driver of the car that hit PC Burnham - 37-year-old Tekle Lennox, of no fixed address - was jailed for seven years in March after admitting causing grievous bodily harm with intent to resist arrest.

Lennox's Mini was filmed by a passing motorist's dashcam as it struck PC Burnham in Holbrook Lane, knocked him on to its windscreen and carried him on the bonnet for almost three seconds, before throwing him into the road.

PC Burnham suffered a fractured skull, a bleed on the brain and shattered knee

The officer has no memory of what happened, but has since watched the full and unedited footage.

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He spent just under a week in a coma and suffered a fractured skull, a bleed on the brain and a shattered knee - his left knee cap is now held together by three screws.

"I feel justice has been done," PC Burnham said on the anniversary of the crash.

"I was glad to see the back of the court case and felt better when it had been laid to rest."

Acknowledging the dangers of policing, PC Burnham added: "That shouldn't stop us from doing things, it's about remembering stay aware and keeping safe."