PC Jon Henry

It's now 24 hours since the fatal stabbing of PC Jonathan Henry in Luton. As tends to happen, a few more details are starting to emerge about the incident and about the man himself.

The incident was called in to Police at about 7.15am. So, at this time, Jon and his mates would have been sitting in a briefing, having a brew and chatting about the day ahead. Who had people coming back on bail, who had appointments elsewhere and what work was to be allocated to which officers.

There would have been laughs and jokes, and grumbles about how hard it is getting up on earlies.

Somebody would have been having the p*ss taken out of them for something they did the day before, and they'd have come back with "Ah, but remember that you you managed to lock yourself in that woman's toilet!"

And then the weighty issue of what the squad was going to do for breakfast.

Basically, a team of Police officers getting ready for the day ahead and, tragically, you can imagine them talking about their plans for the evening. Within half an hour one of their number would be dead.

Jon left behind a wife, Mary, and a baby daughter, Maggie, who isn't yet one year old. I've never met them, nor had I met Jon or his team, but I hope that in some small way their grief is helped by the knowledge that they are in the thoughts of so many of us.

It's because of Mary and Maggie that I want to be careful about how I word the rest of this post; to make sure that it isn't disrespectful to Jon's memory. I think it's wrong to use the death of a Police officer to try and make a political point.

But it's the thought of all the Police widows, widowers and orphans that makes me feel like this should be written.

For some time now the majority of frontline Police officers have called for us to receive better protection, both from the judicial system and in terms of the equipment which is issued to us.

Firstly, there needs to be mandatory "life without the hope of parole" sentences for those that murder (and I mean "commit murder" as in this case) Police officers in the line of their duty. The murder of a Police officer was one of the last offences for which a person could be hanged. And, although occasionally a Police officer was shot or stabbed, there was some sort of deterrant there. A person going to commit an armed robbery could think, "if the Police come and I'm cornered, I can either do 10 years for the robbery or hang if I kill the copper". And they would, normally, choose to give themselves up or at the very least not resort to using their guns.

Nowadays, there's no difference between killing a public servant in the course of their duty and killing your neighbour because you've fallen out. I'm not saying the life of the Police officer is worth more, but the fact that they are on duty serving the public should be reflected in sentencing.



It took years for the Police to be issued with a decent baton in this country, and how they wailed and cried in Westminster and in Middle England when they were issued. The same debate happened, to a lesser extent, with the advent of quickcuffs.

When the idea of CS incapacitant spray being issued to every officer was mentioned, you'd have thought that "CS" was actually some sort of machine gun! Still, after an unbelievable amount of drama, it was issued. And today no officer would consider going out on the beat without these three appointments.

The call for Taser is growing. I've heard that at least one force has already bought enough to issue to all frontline officers and are just waiting for the nod from the Home Office (or whatever it's called this week). I wasn't present at the incident yesterday, so my knowledge is limited. But I believe that the murderer was arrested with the assistance of Taser. I can't help wondering if Jon would still be alive today if he had been issued with it himself.

People, I'm thinking about Amnesty amongst others, will tell you how dangerous they are.

Jon Henry's friends and family will tell you how dangerous knives are.

How can I be expected to protect the public effectively without being given the means to do so. I have to be able to protect myself in order to protect others. I too, like Jon, have a family. I'm sure that every Police officer, past and present, who saw the news yesterday had the same thought, "there but for the grace of God..."

Finally, have a look at National Police Memorial . Soon, Jon's name will be recorded here, alongside those other officers who have given their lives in the service of the public.

It's because of this huge list of names and, selfishly and I suppose cowardly, because I don't want to join the list, that I believe it's time for all of us to put pressure on the Government to roll out Taser to all frontline officers.