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Detective murdered by al-Qaeda terrorist given Queen's Medal

by Dave Keating | January 6, 2009 at 12:09 am

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A British detective who was killed while persuing a terrorism suspect has been awarded a George Cross by the queen for gallantry. The officer was originally denied the medal, sparking an outcry.

Det Con Stephen Oake, 40, was originally nominated for a George Cross in the immediate aftermath of the operation that cost him his life.

But members of a civil service committee decided that his actions in taking on the fleeing terrorist, Kamel Bourgass, did not meet the "extremely high" criteria for the award.

This was despite the Special Branch officer being unarmed at the time he sustained eight catastrophic knife wounds while trying to hold Bourgass back from his colleagues.

The decision dismayed DC Oake's then chief constable, Mike Todd, and provoked widespread anger among rank-and-file officers.

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Paschen

at 00:49 on January 6th, 2009

francisrivera

at 01:41 on January 6th, 2009

He very much deserves it.

jjenet

at 02:23 on January 8th, 2009

As somebody who was taught the criteria for recommending such decorations in case I ever saw anybody earn one, I’d have recommended Oakes for the GC. If this attack had just happened and he’d been killed protecting himself, then maybe not - but at the time he came on the scene, Bourgas had already seriously injured another police officer. Oakes knew that intervening carried the real risk of serious injury or death, and did it anyway. The GC is very rarely awarded, but this one seems to me to have warranted it.

Having said that the QGM is a significant honour. In US terms, the type of bravery the GC represents is on a par with the Medal of Honor. The QGM would be on a similar scale to a Silver Star.