Following an extremely successful career of over three years, PD Neo, a five-year-old German Shepherd general purpose dog, can finally enjoy his retirement, now his last job in service has been finalised through the courts.
Spending his years of service working with PC Steve Matthews, initially across both South Yorkshire and Humberside Police, but later just for Humberside, Neo was responsible for many ‘pawsome’ arrests across the full Force area, which in turn made our streets safer.
On his very first day of work in December 2016, Neo attended an armed robbery in Hatfield, Doncaster, where he ‘paw-sitivly’ sniffed out an imitation handgun and other evidence, which would later see the three accused men jailed for a combined total of over 20 years.
The report came in to say a post office had been held up and robbed of cash at gun point by three armed suspects wearing balaclavas and black jackets.
Three men were stopped by Patrol officers a couple of miles from the scene, but their clothing didn’t match the descriptions and there was not enough suspicion to justify arresting them at the time.
However, officers called upon Neo to track the route the men had come from, which led them over a mile away to a motorway verge, where they discovered a black imitation handgun, balaclavas and black jackets hidden away.
The three men were swiftly located again and arrested, all receiving lengthy jail sentences once the case was taken to court.
Neo received a commendation from the Crown Court Judge for his tracking skills and for finding the evidence which ultimately led to their convictions, proving how valuable he would continue to be for police incidents and local communities.
On his last shift, which was in 2019, PC Matthews and Neo got a call reporting a burglary at a housing development on Wawne Road in Hull. On attendance, Neo swiftly located a 42-year-old man hiding inside the development.
The man attempted to escape, but was prevented from doing so by Neo. Knowing he couldn’t run, he attacked both PC Matthews and Neo, but was soon arrested and neither sustained serious injuries.
Despite pleading not guilty to assault and possession of a knife, he was found guilty at Beverley Magistrates Court on Tuesday 13 October 2020 and was sentenced to a total of 34 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and £670 in fines and costs.
As well as proving his abilities, he also influenced another member of the Force to join the dog section.
PC Rob James, who Neo retired to live with, is one of the dog section’s newer recruits, after finishing his training in August 2020. Neo is said to be very ‘pupular’ with PC James’s active service dog Turbo.
Thanks ‘fur’ everything Neo, happy retirement!
