Yahoo News Families of slain officers urge Home Secretary to fulfil bravery recognition promises
The families of two policemen who were murdered decades ago have called on the Home Secretary to honour pledges made to recognise their bravery.
Constable George Taylor, 27, was killed by Robert Mone and Peterhead prisoner Thomas McCulloch in 1976 after they broke out of the State Hospital at Carstairs, having also murdered a nurse and a patient.
Meanwhile Detective Sergeant Ross Hunt, 56, was stabbed to death by three members of a family in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, in 1983 while he was helping colleagues make an arrest.
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Downing Street had claimed no bravery medal applications were made at the time of their deaths, writes the Sunday Mail.
But George Barnsley of the Lanarkshire Police Historical Society says he has a 1977 letter from an ex-chief constable to then Scottish secretary Bruce Millan recommending George for an award.
The families believe both men are entitled to the George Medal, Queen's Commendation for Bravery and Queens Gallantry Medal.
George's son David met Yvette Cooper at a National Police Memorial Day Service last September where she backed the campaign and vowed to help.
David, 56, of Law, Lanarkshire, said: "Now that she is Home Secretary we would like her to be true to her word."
The families also hit out at delays in awarding the Elizabeth Emblem, a new bravery medal for all emergency service workers and public servants who have died in the line of duty.
They have heard nothing six months after applying. Ross Hunt's son Philip Hunt, 64, who lives in Cheshire, said: "I just feel we are being forgotten."
The Cabinet Office said applications for the Elizabeth Emblem were being processed. The Home Office declined to comment.
