Police officers displayed ‘extreme bravery’ in encounter with knife-wielding man

A 43-year-old man was deliberately struck by a police car during an attempt to arrest him on a road in Greenock. He received minor injuries as a result of the collision on 1 June 2018.

Shortly before the man was struck by the car, he had repeatedly stabbed two police officers on their neck, arms and face while they were trying to arrest him in his home in Greenock.

During their initial attempts to arrest the man, the officers had used PAVA spray to try and incapacitate him but it had no effect. After they had been stabbed, both officers made several calls requesting immediate assistance and provided updates to the police control room.

The man then ran from his home armed with a knife and went into the street where there were several members of the public.

Several police officers responded to the wounded officers’ requests for assistance. The first officers arrived in a marked police car and saw the man walking towards their car, with a knife.

Aware that his colleagues had been seriously injured, the police officer who was driving the car felt the man posed a serious risk to members of the public and other officers. He decided that the best option at that moment was to drive at a low speed towards him in an attempt to either disarm or incapacitate him.

The man hit the car’s bonnet and fell to the ground before getting up and then attempting to stab the officer. After a short chase by other officers he was arrested.