Remembering Rosie: COPS service honours North Yorks PC

4 August 2025

North Yorkshire PC Rosie Prior who tragically died on 11 January this year was honoured at the annual Care of Police Survivors (COPS) Service of Remembrance on Sunday.

The COPS charity hosts the service each year at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire.

Rosie, who was a response officer based in York, died after coming across a road accident on the A19 at Bagby, near Thirsk while off duty.

Having put herself back on duty to help those involved, Rosie was standing on the verge of the road, alongside the driver and passenger from one of the cars involved, when all three were struck by a heavy goods vehicle.

Serious injuries

Rosie, who was 45, and the car driver died at the scene and the teenage passenger was taken to hospital with serious injuries. A mother of two, Rosie joined the Force as a student officer in May 2022.

Rob Bowles, chair of North Yorkshire Police Federation, commented: “At the time of Rosie’s death, I said that she was the best of British policing and that still holds so true. She stopped at the scene of a crash while off duty because she wanted to help others. Tragically, she paid for that selflessness and that commitment to serving the public with her life.

“Her death continues to be felt across the Force but most particularly by the family, friends and colleagues she left behind.

“It is right and fitting that Rosie was honoured at this year’s remembrance service and I hope that it was a comfort to her loved ones to know that she – and they – are not forgotten by the police service and by COPS which is dedicated to helping the families of fallen officers rebuild their lives through peer support and other initiatives.”

Rosie’s name was part of the roll of honour read out at Sunday’s service by Gill Marshall, the COPS national president.

Roll of honour

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

Acting Sergeant Reece Buckenham of Hertfordshire Police who died on 29 June 2024;

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

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.

The roll call was followed by a minute’s silence.

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.

 

The riders bring the Police Unity Tour to an end.

 

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

Three family members who had lost a police officer also gave their own readings.

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.

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.

Accident

“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 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.

Survive

“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, had been a nurse at the time 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 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.

Tribute

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.

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 – who included a contingent from North Yorkshire Police - 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.

Next year’s COPS service of remembrance will be held at the National Memorial Arboretum on Sunday 9 August.