Sergeant Stu Coates says he is representing the whole of Northumbria Police’s mounted section at the national Bravery Awards.
Stu joined fellow Bravery Awards nominees from across England and Wales for a day of celebrations of police bravery in Whitehall.
A grand reception was held in their honour at the Foreign Office. It was attended by the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper.
Downing Street
After the reception, Stu and his fellow nominees visited Downing Street for photos and media interviews.
He said: “The Home Secretary was saying how proud she was of all the officers.
“It was outstanding to be in this part of London and to see buildings like the Foreign Office.
“To be surrounded by a lot of young officers, it’s really good to see them coming through and getting bravery awards, it’s absolutely amazing.”
Stu attended the event with his son, Dom.
“It’s great to be able to share it with him,” Stu said.
“He hasn’t been in the city since he was a small lad and he’s absolutely loving it.”
Stu’s nomination followed his key role responding to riots in Sunderland on the evening of Friday 2 August 2024, which threatened public safety.
An unplanned and leaderless protest escalated into widespread violence, and as the officer in charge of the Force’s mounted section, Stu led a unit of six colleagues in containing the disorder.
This included confronting an unpredictable crowd of several hundred on their own, as well as standing firm during a number of other flashpoints.
Police horse
Stu, riding on police horse Petronus, was an ever-present leader throughout – even after being struck in the head with a concrete block, where he said his helmet ‘saved my life’.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Stu said of the events: “It’s something that the mounted section train for.
“I’m down here today, but I’m representing the whole team. That includes all the officers, all the grooms.
“It takes a lot of work to get the horses ready.
“We do this sort of work up and down the country at football, protests, that sort of stuff.
“On that night, it was unprecedented violence and disorder. Crowds wanted to cause as much disruption to the public as they possibly could.
“The horses were outstanding as well. It takes a lot of training and those horses are extremely brave as well. It’s a massive team effort.”
Read more about Stu’s nomination.