Sponsored by
Police save teenager's life in river rescue
Officers dive into River Ouse
A life-saving trio of police officers have been put forward for a commendation after rescuing a drowning teenager from the river in Bedford.
Sgt Ian Stoughton, 51, and PC Martyn Hynes, 27, stripped off their stab vests and dived into the River Great Ouse, close to Town Bridge on Saturday, after a 17-year-old plunged into the swollen, fast flowing water.
The teenager jumped into the river at the rear of Bedford Magistrates' Court as he was chased by PC Tim Smart, having allegedly been involved in a shoplifting incident in Poundland in The Harpur Centre.
PC Hynes said: "It was clear he was struggling from the moment he entered the water.
"I saw the lad going into the middle of the river so I swam out to meet him.
"It was obvious that the point he had got to was down to the current and that he had not swam there."
PC Hynes, who is a competition standard triathlete, and Sgt Stoughton, who has completed open-water life-saving events, swam out from opposite banks of the river to meet the teenager.
The duo, who are part of the new Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Intercept Team, were then able to drag him towards PC Smart, who tossed a lifebuoy to the pair and pulled them to the bank.
PC Hynes added: "When we got to him he just about managed to whisper 'help'.
"We're used to open water conditions because of the competitions we do, but even so I was finding it hard going.
"He was in the middle where the river divides for the bridge and the currents are terrible, and on top of that it was the temperature of the water that was really dangerous."
PC Smart was then able to pull the teenager onto the riverbank where he received treatment from paramedics.
PC Hynes added: "He was a dead weight at that point. He was so cold he could not do anything.
"We didn't go in to arrest him, we went in to get him out.
"I think it's fair to say he would have drowned if we had not gone in after him."
The three officers have now been put forward for a commendation.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Bedford
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -6 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
