Page 111 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

uneventful as the game which ended in a 0-0 draw. By 6 o’clock I was home
having my tea.

I got a call on the home phone from a mate working on A unit at Erdington.
The news in that call saddened me so much. A report had come in that
persons were trying to gain entry to a store on Erdington High Street via a fire
escape and roof skylights. Officers responded quickly and chased the
suspects across the rooftops. There was a gap between the buildings. A
young officer whom I knew, 21-year-old Andrew Le Comte gave chase but,
in the darkness, fell from the roof of the building to his death. The sad loss of
such a young and promising life affected us all profoundly.

Volunteers were requested to form part of the honour guard at Andy’s
funeral in Coventry the following Thursday. I volunteered and stood alongside
my colleagues wearing our white ceremonial gloves as the coffin arrived and
was carried into the church for the service. It was an extremely emotional
morning and I have no shame admitting that my tears fell uncontrollably as
we watched his heartbroken parents and relatives say farewell to Andy.

Back at Kingstanding after the funeral, my heart wasn’t really in serving
summonses and dealing with what seemed like trivial minor complaints.

The upside from all this, if there is an upside, is that
the CID at Erdington, notably DC Nigel Wier and his
team, cleared multiple burglary and handling stolen
goods offences following the arrests of these and
associated criminals that day. Despite the incredible
sadness of that fateful Saturday, Nigel got on with
the job, which I like to think is what Andy would have
wanted most.

To this day, as a fitting tribute, the best probationer is
awarded the Andrew Le Comte award.
If any of us officers kidded ourselves that the uniform
would protect us, the passing of a friend in the line of
duty reminded us that we weren’t super-heroes, we Figure 44 PC Andrew LeCompte
were only human after all.

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