Two brothers who slashed a brave off-duty police officer with a machete as he tried to stop an e-bike robbery have been jailed for seven years.
Hannan Mahmood, 20, and Humar Mahmood, 19, of Luton, Bedfordshire, attacked PC Darren Attwood outside a shopping centre in the city, leaving him with stab wounds to his arm and chest.
PC Attwood had been out shopping with his wife on November 2, last year, when he spotted the pair robbing an electric dirt bike and stepped into their path as they tried to make off with it.
Dramatic CCTV footage shows the off-duty officer blocking the brothers from getting away with a nearby plastic barrier – all while being slashed with a machete.
As he was attacked, one of the men said: ‘Just kill him.’
PC Attwood, who works for Metropolitan Police, has spoken out about the incident for the first time. Describing the moment he was stabbed, the former soldier said: ‘I felt one [blow] on my arm.
‘The second one [said] ‘just… kill him’ and I thought ‘this is not ideal’ [but] I cannot let [them] get away.’
He added: ‘I didn’t go into town expecting to be stabbed.
‘The victim of the robbery didn’t go into town to get robbed. We were just doing our normal day-to-day activties.’
The horrific attack left PC Attwood with non-life threatening injuries to his arm and chest.
Both brothers pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving, robbery and possession of offensive weapons in connection with the incident.
Hannan Mahmoud had recently been released from prison and was on licence when the attack took place.
The pair had previous convictions – Humar for wounding and knife offences and Hannan for robbery and assault.
They were sentenced at Luton Crown Court yesterday to seven years’ imprisonment, plus an extended five years on licence.
PC Attwood said: ‘I think if you put a uniform on – irrespective of what uniform – you have a hidden ability to help people.
‘There is a saying that the police are never off duty and in my case at this time, that was true.
‘Thankfully we managed to stop someone from doing something bad to someone else.
‘I would like to thank the officers of Bedfordshire Police as while they have said really nice comments about me, I have never had a chance to thank them back.
‘I thank them wholeheartedly.’
Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said: ‘Every day police officers up and down the country step forward to confront the most dangerous criminals in circumstances when most people would turn away.
‘PC Attwood was off duty, on his own and without his personal protective equipment.
‘But his instincts told him something wasn’t right so he bravely went to investigate and confront criminals armed with machetes.
‘It is thanks to his courage and to the subsequent work of Bedfordshire Police that two violent offenders are now behind bars. The public are safer as a result.
‘PC Attwood’s actions demonstrated the very best of policing – bravery, dedication, a commitment to service and a passionate drive to protect people.
‘All of us at the Met are incredibly proud to call him a colleague.’
Detective Inspector Caeva Taylor from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit said: ‘PC Attwood was off-duty at the time of the offence and courageously stepped in to prevent any further harm to the public, risking his own life to do so.
‘The Mahmoods now face a lengthy prison sentence and I am pleased that they are no longer free to carry out wanton violence on Bedfordshire’s streets.’
In sentencing, Judge Hunter KC thanked PC Attwood for his service and made an application for a High Sheriff’s Award.
