Domestic abuse is insidious, damaging and distressing. Its impact on victims can be life-changing.

In November 2016 a man came to the attention of the police because a relationship with his female partner had ended. He was obsessed with her and his harassment and threats led to her living in fear.

When the man was reported missing, officers began to look for him. They checked on his ex’s welfare and persuaded her to take her children to another address for the night.

Constable Sophie Dvorakova, a student officer at the time, and Special Constable Brandon Parker, a recently appointed volunteer officer, went back to her home to retrieve a handbag the young woman had forgotten.

But when they got there they became suspicious.

Things had been moved and it seemed as if someone had been in the loft. Hearing noises, they eventually located the woman’s estranged partner hiding in a wardrobe.

He was armed with a knife. The officers arrested him and he subsequently appeared in court. Chief Constable Gary Roberts, awarding certificates of merit, said: ’There can be little doubt that the man had malign intentions and, without the actions of the two officers, a tragedy may well have occurred.’