Graham was ‘everything you would want in a police officer’

30 August 2023

Sergeant Graham Saville has been described as “everything you would want in a police officer” by the chair of Nottinghamshire Police Federation.

Simon Riley said that Graham’s death had devastated the Force and affected officers across the country.

“Graham was an officer under my command a few years ago when I was a response inspector in Nottingham,” Simon told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme

“He was everything you would want in a police officer. He was caring, compassionate, strong, determined, and just generally an all-round good, professional police officer.”

Simon added: “It’s absolutely devastated the Force. Everybody is deeply saddened by it.

“We are a police family and when something like this happens it deeply affects us all, and that extends beyond Nottinghamshire as well.

“We have been contacted by Federations and officers up and down the country who have reached out to us to offer their condolences.”

Sergeant Saville, a response officer based at Newark Police Station, sustained serious injuries when he was hit by a train as he attempted to save a distressed man in Balderton on Thursday 24 August.

He was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre where, despite the best efforts of medical staff, the 46-year-old sadly died on Tuesday.

Simon said that the situation was “indicative of the dangers our members put themselves in, day in day out, shift in shift out, in order to protect the public”.

Speaking on BBC One’s Breakfast programme, he said: “What can, at one minute, seem like a fairly routine day can suddenly change with devastating consequences, as we’ve seen.”

He added: “There were a lot of our members who attended the scene on the night, many of whom are going through a particularly difficult time as a result of what they experienced. They’re also being given all the support they need.”

READ MORE: Tributes pour in for Sergeant Graham Saville