Fallen officers honoured at service to round off 2025 Police Unity Tour

4 August 2025

The 13th UK edition of the Police Unity Tour (PUT) was concluded yesterday (Sunday 3 August) at the National Memorial Arboretum with fallen officers across the country remembered in a moving service.

Suffolk PC Cheryl Lloyd was among those honoured at the end of another successful PUT ride by cyclists on a joint Norfolk and Suffolk chapter as this year marks the 20th anniversary of her death.

Cheryl, 42, died on 18 June 2005, when she was involved in a road accident while responding to an urgent call on shift.

The PUT chapter began its journey to the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire on Friday 1 (August) and, as usual, made a stop along the way at Drayton Manor near Tamworth to meet up with the loved ones of officers killed on duty.

 

Riders, family and friends gather at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas.

 

These families are known as ‘survivors’, in keeping with the event’s associated charity, the Care of Police Survivors (COPS).

Suffolk Police Federation chair Darren Harris said: “I am delighted that another Unity Tour has been held and has brought comfort to the police family and members of our Federation.

“The PUT is always a highlight on the policing calendar for so many, and for good reason – it’s the perfect opportunity to come together and remember the colleagues who once stood beside us for the purpose of our profession.

“In the blink of an eye, these people were taken away from us and their families, and it’s vital they are never forgotten.

Tribute

“For a tribute to be paid to Cheryl 20 years on from her death would have meant a lot to her relatives, I’m sure, and I’d like to thank everyone who had her in their thoughts over the weekend.

“The Police Unity Tour provides an opportunity to raise awareness of fallen officers and support the incredible work being done by COPS for their families, no matter how much time has passed since an officer’s death. The charity’s annual Service of Remembrance is a very poignant way to end the PUT and the perfect reminder of what its cause is all about.”

One participant who completed the PUT with Cheryl as his focus was civilian rider Martin Presland, who cycled with the Metropolitan Police Service chapter.

Ahead of this year’s event, Martin said he was ‘very touched’ by Cheryl’s story in the Force – despite not knowing her personally – and it was for this reason he first decided to ride in her memory seven years ago.

Based on details he had learnt from her loved ones, he described her as ‘very proud to be a police officer’, who ‘always wanted to do her best to help people’.

Honour

At the arboretum service, a roll of honour was read out featuring the names of officers who have lost their lives on duty in the past year, consisting of:

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

• 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.

The roll of honour, delivered by COPS national president Gill Marshall, was followed by a minute’s silence.

Earlier in proceedings, Gill had welcomed chief officers, Federation representatives, policing stakeholders and PUT cyclists and support teams to the service, which featured music from the West Midlands Police Brass Band and its vocalist Superintendent Sam Batey, who sang two songs.

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.

Impact

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.

“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.

 

Riders bring the event to a close.

 

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 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.

Charity

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, and it will also always be survivor focussed.”

Wreaths

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 PUT, a sponsored ride from their home forces to the service.

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.

Next year’s PUT will be held across the weekend of Friday 7 August, with COPS’ Annual Service of Remembrance to take place at the National Memorial Arboretum on Sunday 9 August.