Storm drain attack PCs in line for national bravery award

24 September 2020

An officer who feared for his life after he pursued a suspect into a dark, water-filled storm drain, and the PC who came to his rescue have both been nominated for a national Police Bravery Award.

West Midlands PC Paul Newman feared his eyes would be gouged out and then thought he would be drowned when he was attacked by a man who had fled a car when officers discovered a loaded handgun.

PC Holly Necchi heard her colleague’s cries for help and it was thanks to her that PC Newman survived the attack.

“These two officers were incredibly brave, neither of them really knew what they would encounter when they ran into this storm drain,” says Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, “They knew the man they were pursuing had a gun in his car and they knew he desperately wanted to escape from them.

“But, despite that, they were determined to catch him regardless of the fact that they were putting their own lives at risk to do so. For PC Necchi there was the added pressure of knowing that her colleague was under attack so it was critical that she got to him. PC Newman put up a valiant fight when he came under a sustained and horrific attack and I am sure that PC Necchi’s arrival at the scene prevented him receiving further injuries or even worse.

“I am sure, like so many other nominees for the bravery awards, they would say they were just doing their job but their brave actions should be recognised.”

The incident unfolded on 17 July 2019 at about 11.30am when officers were on an operation on Bescot Retail Park, Walsall. A VW Golf was brought onto the site and PC Necchi spoke to the driver – Calvert Batchelor.

While checking him on PNC, it was established he had warning markers for possession of a firearm and intelligence linked him to gangs and drug dealing.

PC Necchi got Batchelor, who had started to appear very agitated, out of the car and began a stop and search. Other officers searched the car and, as an officer approached the driver’s door, Batchelor ran away.

PC Necchi gave chase into a brook that ran alongside the area where the car had been stopped. Realising he was surrounded, Batchelor turned and ran into the storm drain. At this point, he had been spotted by PC Newman who was a passenger in an unmarked police car involved in the operation and had been alerted to the fact that Batchelor had fled after being stopped for checks.

The tunnel of the drain was about 10ft wide and 6ft high and it was only when it came to an end after about 25 metres that PC Newman was able to reach Batchelor.

But, at that point, the drain was shallow and both PC Newman and Batchelor were so confined that they were crawling on their hands and knees.

Batchelor grabbed a branch which was about one metre long and 8cm thick and attempted to swing it at the brave PC but he was unable to do so due to the limited space.

By now, PC Newman had realised the danger he was in on his own, with a man who was becoming more aggressive. They were in relatively deep water, mud, silt, rubbish and debris.

Batchelor launched himself at PC Newman, grabbed him with one arm around the back of his head and with the other gouged at his eyes. PC Newman remembers the intense pressure as his attacker’s fingers dug into his eye sockets and felt he was trying to ‘wrench’ out his eyeballs.

He recalls everything going intensely, brilliant white, rather than the blackness he expected, and also the indescribable pain.

When Batchelor suddenly let go, he grabbed PC Newman by the jaw, reaching under his tongue to use his middle finger to punch a hole through the floor of his mouth, just below his lower front teeth.

PC Newman’s instinctive reaction was to bite his assailant but he then found himself being dragged backwards by the jaw, held under water for about 30 seconds at which point he felt exhausted and feared he was about to die.

Somehow he got hold of his torch and hit Batchelor causing him to fall back onto the mud and then fell on top of him.

Luckily, but unbeknown to him, he had been followed into the tunnel by PC Necchi who had heard the panicked shouting from her colleague. She helped PC Newman restrain and detain the offender.

PC Newman feels PC Necchi saved his life as he was physically spent and unable to do anything else to subdue Batchelor.

A firearm was discovered in the driver’s door of the car that Batchelor had run from.
At court, Batchelor admitted possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition, plus wounding, and was jailed for nine years and four months.

The annual Police Bravery Awards, sponsored by Police Mutual, honour some of the finest officers in England and Wales who have performed incredible acts of bravery, while on or off duty.

This year’s ceremony, which was due to be held in London in July, was postponed due to the pandemic, but will be staged on Thursday 15 July 2021. A total of 94 brave officers from forces across England and Wales have been put forward for an award.

John Perks, chief executive officer of Police Mutual, said in a message to all nominees: “Police Mutual is, as always, proud to be supporting the National Police Bravery Awards in its 25th anniversary year.

“Despite having to postpone the original ceremony, your courage was never forgotten and it goes without saying to all of the nominees from 2019 that your commitment to keeping the public safe in the most demanding of circumstances shows unlimited bravery and resilience.

“This is something each and every one of you should be immensely proud of, as I and all of my colleagues at Police Mutual are on a daily basis when we see how hard your roles can be. We very much look forward to meeting you in July 2021 for the ceremony and our chance to give our thanks in person.”