Reece is honoured at memorial service

4 August 2025

Hertfordshire Police officer Reece Buckenham was among the fallen officers remembered in the roll of honour at the annual Care of Police Survivors (COPS) Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire on Sunday.

Reece, who was an acting sergeant, was riding his motorcycle on the A10 between Rush Green and Great Amwell shortly after finishing a night shift when he was involved in collision with a car on 29 June 2024. He was 36.

His name was read out along with those of four other officers to have lost their lives in the last year by Gill Marshall, the COPS national president.

Gill, whose own police officer husband died in 2006, reassured the families of fallen officers at the service that their sacrifice is never forgotten despite the day-to-day challenges of policing.

 

Riders on this year's Police Unity Tour.

This was echoed by Hertfordshire Police Federation chair Luke Mitchell. He said: “The policing family comes together at events such as the COPS service to stand shoulder to shoulder with the loved ones left behind when a police officer dies.

“But while the service is committed to remembering and honouring fallen officers, it also perfectly demonstrates the support the charity offers to the family members left behind.

“It is an incredible charity which is dedicated to helping those families rebuild their lives. It really does offer them a lifeline with peer support having such a critical role to play.”

Roll of honour

The other officers listed in the roll of honour this year were:

DC Karen Smith of Humberside Police who died on 18 December 2024;

PC Rosie Prior of North Yorkshire Police who died on 11 January 2025;

PC Michael Bruce of the Metropolitan Police who died on 14 June 2025, and

PC Ian Minett of Gloucestershire Constabulary who died on 21 June 2025.

Once Gill had read out their names, a minute’s silence was observed.

Gill had earlier welcomed the congregation, including chief officers, Federation representatives, policing stakeholders and those who had completed the Police Unity Tour, to the service which featured music from the West Midlands Police Brass Band and its vocalist Superintendent Sam Batey who sang two songs.

Three family members who had lost a police officer also took part in the service.

Laurie Murphy talked about the impact the death of her father – Dyfed Powys DC Roger Meyrick – in 1990 had on her. She was 16 at the time and had a sister who was 13 and a brother who was 9.

Roger was 37 when he died in a head-on car crash with a lorry while he was on surveillance training. Tragically, three other Dyfed Powys Police officers also died as a result of the accident. DCs Leonid Evans, 41, and Nicholas Tabraham, 29, died on the same day while Paul Hetherington, who was 35, died 10 days later.

Impact

In a very moving speech, Laurie recalled the day when officers came to the family home to tell them of her father’s death and told how the family’s world fell apart.

“He was our dad and we loved him so much,” she said.

Laurie explained the impact of realising that her Dad had missed out on so much – seeing her get married, having three children and a grandson and following her brother’s journey to being an Iron Man.

She admitted that she had found it difficult when her husband had joined Dyfed Powys Police as a police officer, but that ultimately that had led to her finding out about COPS and getting involved three years ago.

Fiona Deans, sister of PC Peter Deans, 25, of Avon and Somerset Police, told of the effect it had on her when her brother died with colleague PC Jonathan Stapley on 29 December 1984 when they were in a road accident during a police chase.

She said it could be ‘just as hard, just as tough’ to lose an officer when you were a sibling, and welcomed the support of the COPS siblings group and the charity generally.

“It’s a huge comfort to know that Peter is remembered, and I am remembered,” Fiona said.

The third family member to speak was Susan Gibson, the daughter of Sergeant Edward Thomson of Strathclyde Police. He was 41 when he died on 13 January 1982 after a road accident. Susan, who was 21 at the time, had been a nurse when he died and remembered going to the hospital to see him after the accident and expecting him to survive. But sadly he died from catastrophic injuries to his chest.

Devastated

Devastated by his loss, she said: “I just felt like a big part of me had gone too.”

Susan explained that she had found a lot of comfort and support from COPS, and highlighted the fact the charity gave her access to the Spectrum counselling service.

During the service, wreaths were laid by for the Office of the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire, the High Sheriff of Staffordshire, the Home Office, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing, the Blue Knights, the Police Unity Tour and COPS.

West Yorkshire Chief Constable John Robins, a COPS trustee, closed the service.

He said: “We all know COPS was survivor initiated and survivor led, it will also always be survivor focussed.”

Chief Constable Robins also thanked everyone involved in the remembrance service, paying tribute to families who he said had faced ‘unimaginable loss’ but stood united and proud in memory of their loved ones.

After the service, families and other guests made their way to The Beat, an avenue of trees dedicated to individual forces and officers to lay wreaths and single red roses.

Arboretum

Earlier in the day, crowds gathered at the arboretum to welcome the arrival of cyclists from forces across England and Wales who had undertaken the Police Unity Tour (PUT), a sponsored ride from their home forces to the service, aimed at raising awareness of fallen officers and raising funds for the COPS charity.

The 530 PUT riders to take part this year were joined as they rode in for the service by 100 members of the Blue Knights, the law enforcement motorcycle club and police motorcyclists from the fleets of several forces.

A team of cyclists from Hertfordshire were part of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Chapter of the PUT which set off on Friday.

Bedfordshire PC Sam Sparkes dedicated her ride to Reece by sporting a wristband engraved with his name. She had been Reece’s family’s liaison officer after his tragic death.

Ahead of the tour, she said: “Although I never knew Reece personally, I’ve worked closely with his loved ones over this past year and I’ve obviously learnt so much about him. He sounded like he was an all-around great guy, who was everyone’s friend in policing and an amazing family man outside of it.”

You can donate to Sam’s 2025 Police Unity Tour fund-raiser by visiting her JustGiving page.