Northants police chief apologises for 'insensitive' Facebook post on anniversary of PD Bryn's murder

The chief constable of Northamptonshire Police has issued a public apology to a retired dog handler after promoting a police dog event on the anniversary of PD Bryn's murder.

The event, 'A day in the life of a dog handler' was promoted on the Northamptonshire Police Facebook page. It was to follow PD Bryn and PD Socks alongside their handler, PC Sculthorpe, for a day in an Instagram story takeover on Thursday, February 10 to give the public an insight into their working life.

However, the timing of the event was deemed 'insensitive' by commenters because today (February 5) is the anniversary of the original PD Bryn's fatal shooting in 1998.

The former police dog handler of PD Bryn, Ian Churms, called out the event on Twitter. He said: "So today is the anniversary of PD Bryn's murder. It’s a very difficult day for me with my own injuries as a constant reminder. To promote this in THIS week is so wrong. Is his namesake that forgotten?"

The tweet garnered more than 200 likes and an outpouring of sympathy from his followers.

One follower, tagging chief constable Nick Adderley, said: "Chief this is insensitive at best and totally crass at worst. You could’ve picked any team to follow. This needs to be shelved with immediate effect."

The official Northamptonshire Police Twitter account, in response to Ian Churms' tweet, said: "Hi Ian, we're sorry for any upset the timing of this event has caused, we will reschedule for another time."

Police chief Nick Adderley, from his personal twitter account, added: "We have shelved it and I have publicly apologised to Ian. No offence was ever intended and both Ian and PD Bryn are always in thoughts."

On Thursday, February 5 1998, Ian Churms and PD Bryn were called to an address in Irthlingborough at about 11.30pm following an emergency call to police.

Shortly after their arrival with a second uniformed officer, a man appeared with a hunting rifle and proceeded to use the weapon to threaten them.

Ian advised the other officer not to enter the property suggesting that this would be better for him and Bryn to handle.

Ian attempted to negotiate with the armed offender, but was shot in the leg. PD Bryn was fatally shot shortly after. A 42-year-old woman was also shot in the incident.

The offender was later overpowered and arrested in a nearby house.

Now retired, Ian still deals with post traumatic stress disorder from the shooting and deals with leg pain from the gun shot. This time of year remains to be a 'difficult' time for him as he remembers the loss of his trusty police dog companion.

A German Shepherd puppy was given to Northamptonshire Police back in September 2018 and he was named in PD Bryn's memory.

The puppy was paid for by a Facebook group of retired and current police officers as a tribute to the late PD Bryn and he was handed over to dog handler PC Sam Clarke by Ian Churms.