Carole Wright killing: Five officers receive bravery award

(L-R) Sgt Matthew Richardson, PC Patrycja Pulkowska and Sgt James Cartwright

Five police officers who caught a man who killed and mutilated his mother have been honoured for their bravery.

The officers found the remains of Carole Wright, 62, from London, in woodland on the Watlington Hill estate in Oxfordshire on 23 October 2020.

After attacking his mother, Daniel O'Hara-Wright had run into a road and forced the driver of a passing car to take him a short distance.

He was tracked down and arrested at a nearby house where he had broken in.

Sgt Andrew Baylis, Sgt James Cartwright, Sgt Matthew Richardson, PC Patrycja Pulkowska and PC Alasdair Uren have all received a Thames Valley Police Federation Bravery Award for their actions.

(L-R) PC Alasdair Uren and Sgt Andrew Baylis

Sgt Cartwright said: "I've been doing this job for 14 years and it was the worst thing I've seen in my life.

"I initially arrested him on suspicion of burglary, but when I asked him if he'd hurt anyone else there was an eerie silence. Then eventually he told me he'd killed his mother."

During O'Hara-Wright's trial last December, Oxford Crown Court heard the 24-year-old had paranoid schizophrenia and believed his mother was a demon.

A pathologist described the injuries Ms Wright suffered, which included having her eyes removed, as "extremely rare" and "bizarre".

'Ran towards danger'

He was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity and given an indefinite hospital order.

Thames Valley Police Federation chair Craig O'Leary said: "This was a horrific case, which all the officers involved in dealt with professionally, despite it being highly disturbing and upsetting.

"This man had shown he had no hesitation in committing murder so our colleagues were at grave risk - but they still ran towards the danger and tracked down and apprehended the offender.

"Without these officers' diligence, the man may not have been apprehended for some time, and the residents of the house he was in may well have come to serious harm."