Richmond memorial for stabbed officer Norman Garnham

A courtyard next to a deconsecrated 14th Century church is the proposed site in Richmond Market Square for the memorial

A memorial to a policeman stabbed to death by a teenage hitchhiker is being planned 41 years after his death.

Det Con Norman Garnham was killed by Colin Simpson as he tried to stop him after an attack in Richmond in March 1977. Simpson was jailed for life.

North Yorkshire Police said the 25-year-old was the first of its officers to be killed in the line of duty.

Plans for a stone memorial to be erected in Richmond Market Square have been submitted to the council.

The detective was driving home from work on 2 March when he was stabbed through the heart by Simpson, to whom he had offered a lift. The 18-year-old had run away from his Richmond house after attacking his sisters, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Mr Garnham, who was just two weeks into his detective role after joining the force in 1975, then recognised Simpson and tried to detain him before being killed.

'Faded from memories'

Simpson fled the scene but was arrested an hour later as he tried to hitch a lift at a petrol station on the A1, near Scotch Corner.

Following lengthy discussions over suitable sites, the force has applied to Richmondshire District Council for listed building consent to erect the memorial in a courtyard beside a deconsecrated 14th Century church used by the Green Howard's Museum.

It has been working with the Police Memorial Trust, which has agreed to fund the plaque.

Councillor Stuart Parsons said: "It is time that this was done - he has had no memorial in all these years.

"It was almost as if he had completely faded from people's [memories]. The memorial will remind people that tragedy can strike in a beautiful and tranquil place such as Richmond."