Police officers honoured for tackling great-uncle who killed Jasmine Forrester
Three police officers who tackled a man after he launched a frenzied and fatal attack on his 11-year-old great-niece have been honoured for their bravery.
The attack happened in Parkfields, Wolverhampton, on February 19 last year and the victim, Jasmine Forrester, who the police originally managed to resuscitate, died later in hospital.
PCs Benjamin Caulwell, Gez Cotter and Christopher Hampton have now been awarded Royal Humane Society Testimonials on Parchment for their bravery in tackling the man responsible, Delroy Forrester.
They have also received Resuscitation Certificates for the brief period they managed to revive the injured girl for – so her parents could see her alive one last time.
Unemployed Forrester, aged 51, was later cleared of murder but convicted by a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was sent to a secure hospital for an indefinite amount of time.
He had bludgeoned his great-niece to death with a broken chair leg that fateful night.
The defenceless child had nearly 100 separate sites of injury throughout her body.
She was staying at the home of Forrester’s mother, Victoria, aged 79, in Kent Road, when she was killed.
During the trial, psychiatrist Dr Dinesh Maganty told the court that the defendant was suffering from a ‘perfect storm’ of mental health symptoms when launching the onslaught.
The officers also won the personal praise of Andrew Chapman, secretary of the Royal Humane Society.
He said: “This was a horrific incident. The little girl had already received fatal injuries when the police arrived and they were obviously also in danger of being attacked.
“However, they managed to apprehend the man and get him out of the building so that it was safe for paramedics to enter.”
