Officers reach new heights for charity

Police officers from Cannock scaled new heights to raise £900 for a children's charity.

A team of eight officers from Chase Proactive Unit climbed and abseiled a distance equivalent to the height of Ben Nevis – Britain's highest peak – at Wolverhampton's Wolf Mountain indoor rock climbing centre. The event was organised in aid of Child Victims of Crime, the national children's charity of the police.

The officers were inspired to take on the challenge by a 13-year-old autistic boy who had his X-box 360 games console stolen not once, but twice. Pc Andy Smith said: "We'd conducted a series of raids on drug dealers and recovered a large amount of stolen property.

"We'd contacted people who'd had similar items stolen and asked them to come and see if they could identify it."

The boy's parents brought him to Cannock police station to see if he could identify either of his consoles, but they weren't there.

"His autism makes it difficult for him to socialise with youngsters of his own age so his X-Box meant the world to him," the police officer added.

Pc Smith's brother and fellow officer Pc Matt Smith said: "When he couldn't identify his X-Box he was inconsolable. He was so upset that it left us all feeling really disappointed that we couldn't return either of his consoles to him. We decided we'd try to do something about it." The brothers and their colleagues approached the Child Victims of Crime charity to ask for help, and the organisation handed over £350 to buy the boy a new, limited edition X-Box and some new games.

Having seen the difference it made to the boy, the officers were inspired to give something back to the charity – eventually collecting £900 in sponsorship for their rock climbing challenge.

Child Victims of Crime trustee and Staffordshire Chief Constable Chris Sims said officers who have been working with children are in a unique position to suggest who the charity might help.