Shocking picture shows injury received by brave police officer impaled on spike during chase

WARNING: Contains graphic image
Dog handler PC Dan Thomas recovering at home after he became impaled on a fence spike while chasing a suspected motorbike thief.
PA
Alexandra Richards31 December 2017

A shocking image showing the injury of a police officer who became impaled on a fence spike while chasing a suspected motorbike thief has been released.

A "very brave" PC, Dan Thomas, was left with a gaping hole in his arm after he and his police dog Gil chased a 22-year-old suspect hiding in a bush in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield.

The gruesome image released by West Midlands Police shows a deep, bloody, medium-sized wound on PC Thomas' tattooed left bicep.

The spike appears to have torn through several layers of flesh after the officer's jacket snagged on an eight-foot fence and it caught his arm.

Image of the injury received by dog handler PC Dan Thomas who is recovering at home after he became impaled on a fence spike while chasing a suspected motorbike thief.
PA

Police said the 35-year-old collapsed from "significant blood loss" moments after the chase, which he had continued on after freeing himself.

West Midlands Police Superintendent Phil Dolby said: "We have released this photo showing PC Thomas' injury with his approval.

"It is undoubtedly a shocking image but illustrates the bravery of the officer to sustain such a nasty injury and yet continue pursuing a crime suspect for several minutes before himself receiving first aid.

He added: "A fantastic effort from Dan...a very brave West Midlands Police officer."

PC Thomas was taken to hospital on Saturday where he received 15 stitches and he is now recovering at home.

He earlier thanked paramedics and doctors for their "brilliant" work.

A man and a 16-year-old were arrested on suspicion of attempted vehicle theft and a stolen car was recovered.

Additional reporting by the Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT