Shortly before 1am on October 3 last year officers attended what they believed to be a domestic incident on Industry Road in Rochdale. What they would walk in to was the scene of a brutal murder.
Liam Richardson, 21, had suffered horrendous injuries at the hands of a raging axeman, having been hit over the head by 18 blows in a 'frenzied attack'. Blood was splattered across the walls and carpet near where his body was discovered.
"S***, he's f****** dead," one of the first officers on the scene said after making their way inside. Their first thoughts were to do anything they could to help him.
READ MORE: Man, 21, stabbed to death after 'running to help friend who was being attacked', murder cops say
However, they were not alone in the property. Liam's two large Staffy dogs were out of control, barking and jumping aggressively at the two officers as they tried desperately to defend their dying owner.
The officers badly needed assistance if they were to have any chance of helping him. PC Lee Hird arrived shortly after the first responders to help with the incident.
PC Hird entered the house with a riot shield to protect the two officers from the aggessive dogs. He drove the dogs back up the stairs, past where Liam was on the landing and into a bedroom.
However, there was no door to this room and he had to utilise another shield in an attempt to keep the dogs at bay. This gave the other officers vital time to try and attend to Liam. But, it soon became clear Liam was dead and the situation had suddenly escalated into a murder scene.
The riot shields were not going to be enough to hold back the dogs and PC Hird, despite what the scene had just become, frantically tried to come up with a plan to get the dogs into a secure room with a door. The situation escalated once more when the larger and more aggressive dog managed to jump over the shields, and went back to a now deceased Liam.
All officers in the house were now vulnerable but PC Hird somehow managed to again drive the loose dog back into the bathroom. After this he fashioned a noose out of a dog lead, entered the room without a shield, and managed to lasso the dog, which was itself injured, and acting in a frightened way.
These actions not only protected his fellow officers, doing their best to save the victim of a vicious crime in what would have been an unthinkable crime scene, but preserved the scene, allowing a full investigation into the circumstances of this horrible crime to take place.
Just hours later, Kieran Oldham, who's house the crime had been committed, was arrested on suspicion of murder. Over the course of a crown court trial into Liam's death it became clear that Oldham 'bullied' and 'used' Liam, who was staying with him at the time, but that night leading up to his death two voicemail messages would reveal the unimaginable extent of this.
Liam was begging Oldham to let him leave the house, saying "I just want to go home. Can I just get my s*** and go?" But Liam would never leave the house alive. Armed with an axe, Oldham launched an unimaginably brutal attack.
In March this year Oldham was sentenced to life in jail. The preservation of the scene through PC Hird's brave actions may have just gone a long way to ensuring this
This heroic bravery in the worst circumstances imaginable has now been recognised by Greater Manchester Police. At the GMP Rochdale District Awards held at the Crown Oil Arena last month, PC Hird was handed the Ray Codling Award for bravery for his actions on Industry Road that morning.
This award is given in memory of Ray Codling, an inspector with GMP who was gunned down in cold blood at Birch Services on the M62 on September 14, 1989.
Chief Inspector Bryn Saville, handing the award to PC Hird, alongside the widow of Ray Codling, Linda Codling, said: "This is for demonstrating selfless commitment, unwavering professionalism and a total disregard for your own safety in managing a highly volatile situation where two dogs were dangerously out of control.
"PC Hird demonstrated selfless commitment, unwavering professionalism and a total disregard for his own safety and managed a highly volatile and unpredictable situation absolute calm. He is a credit to himself, the team and the organisation and this should be recognised at the highest level."
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