TWO policemen based at Weetwood have been given commendations.

PC Bill McGuinness, was attacked by a group of youths while off-duty with his wife and family in Otley in March last year.

The youths assaulted him while he was arresting one of them for being drunk and disorderly. PC McGuinness was forced to let him go but he was later arrested and charged.

Weetwood Road Traffic Officer PC Dave Jelley pursued a speeding stolen vehicle last April for 20 minutes through North Leeds.

When the thieves dumped the vehicle at Cookridge Hall, PC Jelley chased them along with three other officers and arrested the three men.

As reported in last week's Wharfedale Observer, airport worker Brigitte Robson also received a commendation for her actions which led to a man being found guilty of the manslaughter of his girl friend.

Bridget, 40, who used to work as a special constable, saw blood on the hands of a man waiting in the arrivals lounge at the airport in January 1998.

The customer service assistant immediately called the police. And her swift action led to the man being arrested for the manslaughter of his girl friend in Bradford four hours earlier.

She spotted the suspect before the police even knew the girl had been killed.

"He had a little blood on his hands and looked very shaken, he was in a trance," she said. His clothes were bloodstained, muddy and wet.

"He said he was waiting for his girlfriend who was coming on a flight from Spain and I knew there were no more flights from Spain so I started to suspect something."

She called the police straightaway and managed to keep the man talking until they arrived. But it wasn't until three days later that the man's girlfriend was discovered murdered and he was arrested.

Altogether eight police officers and members of the public received commendations from Chief Superintendent George Robinson at Weetwood Police Station.

Chief Supt Robinson said: "All these people are commended for their actions in very different situations, but which have all involved difficult circumstances."

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