Firearms office Ryan Mutlow, saved the life of Trevor Butt, a fellow holidaymaker, during a holiday in Tenerife. When Trevor collapsed from a cardiac arrest, Ryan immediately began CPR, despite initial resistance from retired nurses who thought Trevor had merely fainted. With the help of his wife Emma, a neighbourhood policing PC, and a doctor from Broomfield Hospital, Ryan performed CPR for 45 minutes and used a defibrillator to revive Trevor multiple times. Trevor was later diagnosed with a genetic heart condition and received further treatment in the UK.
The incident forged a strong bond between the two families. Trevor's wife, Maxine, praised Emma for her support during the crisis. Trevor's son, Owen, flew to Tenerife to thank Ryan and Emma personally. The families remained in touch, and Ryan and Emma attended Trevor and Maxine's vow renewal ceremony. Trevor's recovery and the heroic actions of Ryan and Emma highlight the importance of quick, knowledgeable intervention in medical emergencies.
Three arrested in large-scale charity clothes donation fraud investigation
Officers investigating large-scale theft of clothes donated to charity, have arrested three people.
As part of an investigation into a large-scale theft of clothes donated to charity in January, officers from Harlow Local Policing Team (LPT) have arrested three people.
The arrests were the direct result of a warrant at an industrial unit in Purfleet in which officers from Harlow LPT were supported by officers from across the force.
During a search of the premises at the London Road industrial unit, officers located a substantial amount of cash estimated to be £38,000, washing machines, industrial scales, conveyor belts, cages and a forklift. Within a building and a marquee, sacks containing clothes were stacked to the ceiling and were four or more deep in places.
The clothes, shoes, toys and prams found were believed to have been stolen from charity donation bins.
Home burglary down 22% across the county thanks to "relentless focus"
Home burglaries in Essex have decreased by over 22%, equating to 850 fewer victims, thanks to our relentless efforts. Superintendent Tim Tubbs, the strategic lead for burglary, highlighted the importance of collaborative work with partners to share crime prevention advice, especially with vulnerable individuals. The police have made over 350 arrests in connection with burglary investigations in March alone, with some offenders linked to up to 10 different crimes. The force has also solved 273 burglary cases in the past year, an increase of 66 cases compared to the previous year.
Officers from Stansted Airport's Neighbourhood Policing Team recovered over £20,000 worth of suspected stolen goods and arrested three individuals as part of an ongoing operation targeting theft at the airport. The arrests followed reports of perfume and tobacco thefts in March, leading officers to identify and apprehend the suspects on April 7. The suspects, a 33-year-old man and a 41-year-old man from Braintree, and a 33-year-old man from Takeley, were arrested on suspicion of theft and subsequently bailed pending further enquiries.
During the operation, officers found £9,000 worth of tobacco, cigarettes, and perfume in the suspects' possession. Further searches at addresses linked to the suspects uncovered an additional £14,000 worth of goods believed to be stolen, including 432 packets of cigarettes, 311 pouches of tobacco, 27 bottles of perfume, and £1,000 in cash. The operation highlights the effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Policing Team's efforts to combat theft at Stansted Airport.
Work with national crime reduction partnership to target vehicle crime
As part of work to tackle vehicle theft, Essex Police continue to work with partners such as the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership (NVCRP) to target vehicle crime and respond swiftly to this increasingly organised crime type, regularly delivering targeted policing activities, identifying those involved in the force’s priority crime and preventing and detecting vehicle theft offences.
As a result of this hard work, Essex Police had almost 7% less vehicle thefts, meaning 397 less victims of crime in the 12-month period ending in February and are also solving more crime too. In fact, we’ve solved 50% more vehicle theft offences in the last year compared to the previous 12 months.
Working together to prevent death and serious injury on our roads
Roads Policing teams and other partners connected with making the roads of Essex as safe as possible currently based at Billericay and South Woodham Ferrers are co-locating to a joint road safety base in Basildon and to a refurbished site in Boreham.
The teams moving to the joint base in Basildon will mean police officers and staff will work alongside other road safety partners. The joint location will strengthen and enhance our ability to tackle poor and dangerous driving with the aim of eliminating deaths and serious injuries on Essex roads by 2040.
Meet Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Lydia George
With more than two decades of policing experience, Lydia leads investigations into some of our most serious cases.
One of her most challenging investigations was the chilling double murder of husband and wife, Stephen and Carol Baxter.
This month, April 2025, marks two years since the couple were found dead at their Mersea Island home. An investigation led by Lydia and her team revealed a sinister campaign of grooming, gaslighting and ultimately poisoning by someone the Baxter’s believed to be a family friend.
Discover more about Lydia’s policing career and her work to catch some of the county’s most dangerous criminals on our website, by clicking our link in the comments.
And you can watch Lydia and her team unravel the Baxter murder case in the new two-part true-crime documentary series; Essex Millionaire Murders on ITV on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 April at 9pm.
Stolen tools worth £50k recovered in joint operation with Met
Around £50,000-worth of stolen tools were recovered during an operation at a car boot sale in Rainham, east London.
In response to concerns from tradespeople about a rise in tool thefts, officers from Grays Neighbourhood Policing Team worked as part of a Metropolitan Police-led operation with Trading Standards to carry out a large search of the Willow Farm Car Boot Sale on Sunday 6 April.
By using intelligence, and with the help of a dog that can sniff out items marked with forensic water, officers identified and seized around 1,000 suspected stolen tools.
Four men, aged between 40 and 60, from Hackney and Southend-on-Sea were arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods.
A number of suspected stolen bikes, as well as cash, illegal vapes and other counterfeit goods were also seized.
Marine Unit patrols to tackle anti-social behaviour on Essex coastline
Our marine officers have begun their regular spring and summer patrols to tackle and deter anti-social behaviour along the Essex coastline.
Operation Wave-Breaker was launched in 2021 by our Marine Unit in response to anti-social behaviour caused by personal watercraft. Since the patrols started, reported incidents have dropped by two-thirds.
Key locations for our officers, along the shoreline and on the water, include Point Clear on the River Colne, West Mersea and Steeple Bay on the River Blackwater and Southend sea front, where the city council has a public spaces protection order in place.
For even more local updates in your area, we offer 14 district editions of Dispatch which are sent out every Wednesday. All our email newsletters are free so if you don't already subscribe to the district Dispatch for where you live or work, try it today.
For full details of upcoming events, please visit the Essex Police website and enter your postcode.
Driving after drinking alcohol
There is no way to know how much you can drink and stay under the limit, since it can depend on your weight, age, metabolism, the amount of food you've eaten and other factors.
It's impossible to get alcohol out of your system quickly, it always takes time. A shower, a cup of coffee or other ways of ‘sobering up’ may make you feel better but won’t remove the alcohol from your system.
If you've been out drinking, you may still be affected by alcohol the next day and could lose your licence if you drive and are still over the legal limit.
Alcohol affects everyone differently and any amount can impair your ability to drive. The only safe option is to avoid alcohol completely if you’re driving as even ‘just one drink’ could put you over the limit.
If you’re driving, don’t drink any alcohol at all.
If a driver kills someone while under the influence of alcohol, they can be charged with causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs. Since 28 June 2022, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
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This week we remember
Joseph Farmer
After leaving school Joseph Farmer joined the army, serving with the Coldstream Guards. On discharge from The Guards he worked as a labourer before joining Essex Constabulary as Police Constable 256 on December 7, 1905.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Farmer, a reservist, was recalled to his regiment as Private. After a long day of intense fighting in France, along with hundreds of others, Joseph was sent to a prisoner of war camp at Doeberitz before being moved again to the Eastern Front where he died on April 15 1917.
Leonard Douglas Bannister
Leonard Bannisterjoined Essex County Constabulary on 6th June 1939, having previously served in the Coldstream Guards from 31st August 1932 to 1st June 1939.
After training at Headquarters, he was posted to Maldon from 5th August 1939. However, on 1st December 1939, like many of his colleagues, he was recalled to his former regiment. On 11th February 1940 he married Emily Cissie Bannister, of Romford. Within a matter of weeks he was fatally injured in a motor accident and died on Monday 15th April 1940. By that stage he had transferred to become Lance Corporal 2655673 with the Corps of Military Police. He was aged 25.
Adam John Eves
Acting Sergeant Adam Eves, a native of Hutton, near Brentwood, joined the Essex County Constabulary at the age of 20 years, and in March 1877 was appointed Constable No. 63. He served at various stations throughout the county before being promoted to the rank of Acting Sergeant and posted to Purleigh in January 1891. He was brutally murdered on 16 April 1893 whilst carrying out his duties.
We're offering more ways of reporting non-emergency crime and anti-social behaviour through the digital 101 service on our website.
You can also use the service to contact your local policing team, tell us about something you have seen or heard, or request information.
We also have a 24-hour Live Chat service, where you can send direct messages to a digital 101 operator.
We still have our 24-hour 101 service which people can call if they feel it is more appropriate to speak to us or don't have access to the internet.
Always call 999 if a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed, someone is in immediate danger or harm, property is in danger or being damaged, or a serious disruption to the public is likely.
If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service 18000.
British Sign Language (BSL) users please use our video relay service where an interpreter will help you report the crime to us.
If you're in danger but you can't talk on the phone, you should still call 999, then follow these instructions depending on whether you're calling from a mobile or a landline.
