RISKING his own life to save the life of a knife-wielding robber who had slashed his own throat was all part of his job, according to one Swindon policeman who has been commended for his heroic efforts.

It was on the evening of June 27 this year that PC Eric Frempong was patrolling the town when he received a report of an armed robbery at an off licence in Faringdon Road.

The 38-year-old explains: “It came in on the radio that the defendant was still on the scene and I met two of my colleagues who had also arrived. We found the man lying in a pool of his own blood. It looked like he had hurt his neck and had other stab wounds. He was bleeding quite heavily and first of all I didn’t know what was going on but I knew we had to help him so I went back to the car and got a dressing to apply pressure to the wound.

“He must have lost about six pints of blood before the paramedics arrived and even then he was still kicking off.”

PC Frempong was presented the Chief Constable’s Commendation at the awards ceremony on Thursday for administering first aid to the man, whose self-inflicted serious neck and chest injuries were life threatening.

To ensure his safety, PC Frempong travelled with the defendant in the ambulance to assist paramedics, but in an unexpected turn of events, he was left with an injury no one could have anticipated for.

“Somehow from putting pressure on the throat wound, I managed to get blood in my eye and it was when we got to the Great Western Hospital it transpired that he had taken the drug spice which is why he was acting erratically,” he added.

“I also found out he had Hepatitis C and since then I’ve been going to the hospital for treatment to get it out of my system. Next week will be the last session to see whether I’ve got the all clear.

“All the dynamics of working in that case changed because you think you are going there to arrest someone but actually we saved someone’s life.

“Things like that are just part of being an every day police officer and you don’t think about what you are going to find but just deal with what is in front of you. The surgeon said if it wasn’t for our actions, the man would have died but we are trained to just get on with it.”

Before moving to Wiltshire nearly three years ago, PC Frempong was previously in the Metropolitan Police and also served in the army.