Police chiefs have recognised the bravery of local people at a special awards ceremony.

Eleven people from the West Midlands – more than from any other police force area – have been commended for their extraordinary acts of bravery at the annual ACPO Police Public Bravery Awards.

The awards, held as part of the ACPO conference in Manchester last week, recognise outstanding acts of courage by members of the public for their selfless actions in helping victims of crime.

Amongst them was Stourbridge teenager Ben Hudson, given a gold medal for intervening in a stabbing outside his school in April last year. The 16-year-old rugby tackled Samuel Tomlinson to the ground to stop him attacking 14-year-old schoolgirl Chloe West, who suffered 11 stab wounds as a result of the assault.  Sonya Pugh, a mother who tried to pull the offender off Chloe and teachers Alan Simmonds and Steven Ramsay, who both helped Ben as he wrestled with the man to retrieve the knife, were also given Certificates of Commendation. Tomlinson was subsequently jailed for six and a half years.

Another recipient of a gold medal was 68-year-old Gordon Fellows from Wolverhampton, who gave chase to a violent offender who had stabbed a cashier in a Bilston convenience store. He intervened in the attack despite sustaining injuries himself and pursued the offender until police arrived to arrest the attacker.

Ben and Gordon were two of only seven gold medal winners from across the country.

Ben was also given the Binney Award along with 24-year-old Colin Thomas, who pursued a group of men who robbed a jeweller’s in Croydon, south London, in September 2009. It was the first time the award has been bestowed on more than one person.

There were also four silver award winners from the West Midlands:

• Adam Ward from Solihull, who intervened in two separate street robberies on the same day, guiding police to the offenders and resulting in their immediate arrest.
• Retired war veteran Robert Englebright from Erdington, who fought off a burglar who threatened him with an eight inch knife
• Darren Taylor from Cradley Heath, who restrained an armed would-be petrol station robber until police arrived.
• Steven Bayliss from Wednesfield, who restrained a man with a lighter, after he doused himself and his daughter with petrol and threatened to set them both alight.

Two other Certificates of Commendation will be presented locally at a later date.

Honorary Awards Secretary Chief Constable David Crompton said “Every day, throughout the country, people risk injury in order to aid others who are vulnerable or at risk,  and that’s not always just police officers. These awards are a chance for the police service to thank those public-spirited men, women and youngsters who’ve helped their communities to face up to the threat that crime brings.

“The Police Public Bravery Awards do not exist to encourage people to place themselves in danger, but they do represent the opportunity, once a year, for police to pay tribute to those who have performed extraordinary acts of bravery.

“These acts are a true expression of public spirit and courage. They show that the famous quote from Robert Peel, the father of modern policing, is alive and well – `The police are the public and the public are the police’.”