Machete attack PCs get bravery award

A pair of young police officers have been recognised for their bravery, after they tackled a drug dealer who attacked them with a machete.

PCs Morgan Llewellyn and Owain Soady-Jackson had been on patrol in Templars Square shopping centre in Cowley on 12 March 2025 when they spotted two young men in balaclavas who were acting suspiciously.

The pair of Thames Valley Police officers, who were both new-in-service, apprehended one of the men after the pair tried to make off on e-bikes.

Soady-Jackson said he and his colleague had not realised at the time of flinging themselves on the assailant that he had been carrying a 16-inch (41cm) machete.

"It was just all instinct. Morgan was fighting his [the suspect's] upper body, screaming at him to release his arms, get his arms back, all the training we've been given," he explained of the situation.

He said the suspect pulled the weapon out from underneath a bag he was carrying, and "went for me twice in the neck".

"[The suspect] missed the first time, then gone again, and Morgan had to punch the knife out of his hand."

"Essentially, he [Llewellyn] saved me from being killed, because he [the suspect] was about maybe a foot away from the carotid artery in my neck."

Once he was told by his colleague of the knife, Soady-Jackson said he "jumped up, kicked him [the suspect], and blew out my knee".

Explaining what happened next, Llewellyn said he had "eventually" managed to handcuff the man while a growing crowd watched on.

"A couple of members of the public said well done to us," Llewellyn said, before adding he had received a small cut on his left hand from the large blade during the incident.

The two officers are now set to receive Thames Valley Police Federation Bravery Awards at a celebration next week.

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