Three teams who responded to and investigated the killing of a teenage boy – and brought the offenders to justice - have jointly won the Team of the Year at Avon and Somerset Police Federation’s inaugural Recognition Awards.

9 October 2024

The 16 officers being recognised were all part of the Avon and Somerset Police Teams who helped secure the evidence that led to the jailing of the killers of Mikey Roynon, a 16 year old boy who was stabbed at a house party.
At 11pm on 10 June 2023, police officers from the Bath Base 8 Team 1 Response team, along with a number of other officers, responded to a report of a stabbing at a house party in the Weston area of Bath.
Officers arrived at the scene to find a crowd of people outside the house in a state of distress and 16-year-old Mikey Roynon lying in the street with a stab wound to his neck.
Two members of the public who were off-duty nurses had started CPR. PC Laura Faulkner calmly and professionally worked with them on chest compressions and with one of the nurses to continue the first aid.
They did all they could to try to save his life.
Meanwhile Acting Sgt Toby Hales, PC Matthew Fairless, PC Gage Jones and PC Benjamin Slade took control of a challenging and chaotic scene, ensuring that witness details and initial accounts were captured; they ended up working a 18-hour shift guarding the scene.
When ambulance staff arrived they took over primary care but, sadly, Mikey died at the scene.
PC Jones had only been in the job a few months. He said: “Ninety per cent of people go through their lives without seeing stuff like that, and to have that in your first six months was a bit of a shock. But we all had each others’ back.”
The Major Crime Investigation Team took on the case. Their investigation uncovered CCTV showing that three boys had travelled to the party armed with knives. After the stabbing, they fled the house and were captured on CCTV discussing what happened. They then discarded some of their clothing and disposed of their knives, with the one used to kill Mikey later recovered from a drain.
The three boys were arrested and Det Insp Mark Newbury led the investigation with professionalism and tenacity, ensuring that Mikey and his family were at the forefront of every decision he made. He also engaged with the media as a talking head.
DC Lucy Staniland was the officer in charge (OIC) and worked long hours, often on rest days, to ensure the team were ready for trial. Meanwhile Det Sgt Lucy Forde was the case manager, ensuring that the murder investigation ran smoothly.
DC Charlie Cook was the witness contact officer for the most significant juvenile witness, without whose evidence it would have been very hard to secure convictions.
She put a huge amount of effort into supporting the witness, working with partner agencies, to ensure the teenager gave high-quality evidence.
DC Cook said afterwards: “We discussed what special measures would help the witness, and put those in place, and worked with an intermediary, a social worker and his parents. It was a multi-agency approach to alleviate his anxiety and help him give his best evidence.”
DC Sabeena Ali and DC Chrissie Russell were family liaison officers for Mikey’s parents. They provided an excellent service to Mikey’s family, ensuring they were kept informed at every step of the investigation.
DC Ali said: “We were the single point of contact for the family, because there were lots of different people in different departments involved in the investigation. We also assisted the Major Crime Investigation Team by obtaining statements.”  
On 3 May 2024, three boys were jailed for killing Mikey. One was sentenced to life for murder and the other two were sentenced to nine years, and nine and a half years, for manslaughter.
At the end of the hearing, the judge awarded Crown Court Commendations to five members of the Major Crime Investigation Team, praising the work they had done.
Also winning an Avon and Somerset Police Federation Award is the Bath Base 8 Neighbourhood Policing Team A – Inspector Jonathan Nash, PC Joe Pepper, PC Timothy Butler and PC Watts – who carried out ongoing community work in the area where the murder took place. This consisted of dedicated patrols, new beat surgeries, external agency meetings, residents’ meetings and evidence gathering for anti-social behaviour legislation. They also worked with the local housing provider and social services.
Insp Nash said: “We liaised with the public, doing community reassurance and trying to build relations back up after the incident. We’re still dealing with the aftermath.”
His colleague PC Pepper said the team appreciated being recognised for their hard work, adding: “It’s nice for people to recognise the good policing that’s going on in Bath – we’ve had some very serious incidents over the past year.”
Avon and Somerset Police Federation’s Acting Chair, Iain Prideaux, said: “This was a tragic incident that devastated the local community and of course Mikey’s family.
“I thank these three police teams for working together so well to bring three dangerous offenders to justice and help quell tensions in the area.
“This is the side of policing that sometimes doesn’t make the papers of TV documentaries. It shows how much varying strands of great police work take place in a case such of this.
“These police officers are the best of us - and we are very proud of their work.”
Iain added: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Mikey at this time.”
As winners of Avon and Somerset Police Federation Team Award, the officers attended the Avon and Somerset Police Federation Recognition Awards on Thursday 3 October.
The lead sponsor for the Awards was the ASPF Group Insurance Scheme.
Also sponsoring were Serve and Protect Credit Union, George Burrows, Niche, Uniform Mortgages, Warren & Co, The Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner, Accord, The Avon and Somerset Police Benevolent Fund, Pointers Financial and Bluline.  
The hashtag for the event is #ASPFAwards.