News

During a visit to HMP Dumfries on 11 July as part of his summer tour, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, Mr Keith Brown, awarded two Residential Officers with ‘Certificates of Meritorious Contribution’ for an outstanding act of heroism.

During their lunch break, Officers Susan and Fiona intervened to prevent an individual from jumping to his potential death from the Buccleuch Street Bridge. They saw the man walking towards the bridge acting strangely, and their instincts led them to monitor him as a result. On realising his intentions, they reacted quickly and held on to him until the police arrived to assist in pulling him back over the barrier to safety.

This heroic act shows the resilience and compassion that our officers display every day in their work. Given their operational background, Susan and Fiona were able to risk assess the situation and used their wealth of experience and operational awareness to bring a dangerous situation to a successful conclusion.

Neither officer commented on their actions on their return to the establishment, and colleagues were only made aware of their act following a telephone call to the then Governor, Linda Dorward, from Chief Inspector Scott Gill of Police Scotland. On speaking with them thereafter, the officers simply said that they “only did what others would have done in the same situation”.

The professionalism displayed by Officers Susan and Fiona went above and beyond normal expectations. Credit to both their skills, intuition and caring nature, they acted in a way that saved a person's life and we are delighted that this remarkable achievement is rightly recognised. The awards were accepted on the Officers' behalf by Governor Andrew Hunstone.

PICTURE by Bob Geddes, Solway Press Services, Dalbeattie.