Award for D-Day veteran hammer attack police officers

Left to right: DC Robert Nolan, Tom Rossiter, Chief Constable Andy Marsh, DC John Hook and DC Paul Beament

Four police officers have received a chief constable's commendation after a man was jailed for attacking a 97-year-old D-Day veteran with a claw hammer.

In May 2018, Joseph Isaacs, 40, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 20 years after being found guilty of attempted murder.

Jim Booth spent nine days in hospital after the raid at his home in Taunton.

The commendation was for "the execution of duty far and beyond what should be normally expected".

It was awarded to Det Con John Hook, Det Con Robert Dolan, Det Con Paul Beament, and Tom Rossiter.

The citation said intelligence officer Tom Rossiter had identified a potential suspect after a suspicious vehicle was spotted in the Taunton area.

"Tom's excellent financial tracking, which was cross-referenced to CCTV, confirmed the offender was who they thought. An immediate plan was put together and the offender was arrested within 36 hours of the offence," it said.

"As Jim slowly recovered, DC Hook was excellent in his management of the case, ensuring the 97-year-old wasn't exposed to unnecessary court process and submitted a prosecution strategy which allowed justice to be served without the need for Jim's live evidence."

Other officers who were recognised included:

• Det Insp Adam Bunting, Det Con Clare Ball and Det Sgt Helen Holt for their work on a fraud investigation, which resulted in Mark Acklom, 45, of no fixed address, being jailed after defrauding his ex-girlfriend out of her life savings

• Det Con Patrick Prescott for his "excellent, tenacious and difficult investigation" into rape threats against TV presenter Alex Lovell, which saw Gordon Hawthorn, 69, of Street, Somerset, jailed for two-and-a-half years