“I thought, ‘Oh my God, he actually has blood on him and he says he’s killed people.’ It’s real – it’s not just a training scenario.’

Two police officers who disarmed and detained a man who had just brutally stabbed both of his parents have won an award for their bravery.

At 10.15am on Sunday 27 November 2022, a woman called South Yorkshire Police saying she was deeply concerned for the safety of her elderly parents.

She reported that she had been to their address in the Totley area of ​​Sheffield, where she found her brother, James Duncan Andrews, in distress, telling him not to enter the property.

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PC Anna Kelsey and PC Nicola Burn attended the incident and were met by the very concerned daughter. She told them that her brother James, known as Duncan, was still in the house with her parents.

They calmed her down and entered the house, where they found the suspect at the top of the stairs. Andrews was wearing only his underwear, was covered in blood and was holding a large knife.

PC Kelsey, who had recently been trained with the Taser, said: “I actually went in with the Taser stripped, next to me. I got to the bottom of the stairs and the suspect was at the top of the stairs holding a dagger in his hand. It was long and jagged and he was pushing her in the stomach – her stomach and hands were covered in blood.

“I asked him if we could come and talk to him, but he said, ‘No, don’t come any closer.’ We asked him why he had the knife and he said, “Because I just killed both my parents.” All the while, I kept sending updates to the control room.”

Andrews, 53, stabbed his father Bryan Andrews, 79, nine times and his mother Mary Andrews, 76, 82 times after “cert” with auditory hallucinations.

PC Kelsey continued: “The man said if we went up he would kill us. They teach you in Taser training not to Taser someone at height because there was a risk of him falling down the stairs on top of us with a knife, so it was quite intense to think about what to do.”

PC Burn added: “I was in shock. I thought, “Oh my God, he actually has blood on him and he says he killed people. It’s real, it’s not just a training scenario.

“I had never been in this situation before. But luckily the training started and Anna and I realized it was definitely a Taser thing. He could easily throw a gun at us, and our main priority was to go upstairs and check on his parents, to see if there was anything we could do to help them or him.”

Both officers drew their Tasers as Andrews yelled, “Don’t come any closer!” PC Burn managed to get up the stairs, causing the man to take a step back, and she fired the Taser, knocking him to the floor.

The officers ran up the stairs as Andrews, who still had the knife in his hand, began to pick it up again. PC Burn said: “I didn’t know if he was going to throw it away. When I saw the Taser make a perfect connection, it was a moment of relief knowing we had seconds to restrain the man and secure him so he couldn’t be a threat to us or anyone else from the house.”

The officers removed the knife from his hands and handcuffed him. PC Kelsey stayed with the suspect while PC Burn searched the house. Unfortunately, she found the bodies of the man’s elderly parents, who had died from multiple stab wounds.

Mr Andrews, a retired builder, and Mrs Andrews, believed to have been a nurse, had lived in the detached house for many years and their deaths shocked the quiet suburb.

Backup officers arrived at the scene and Andrews was taken to the hospital. In July 2023, Duncan Andrews went to court and pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Prosecutor David Brooke KC told the court that Andrews’ sister was at the family home in the days before the murders and she noticed he was “agitated” and saw he had a “knife in a sheet” and she “took it from he. He was said to have a number of knives in his room.

The prosecutor said: “He said God told him to act and then he should kill himself. He described himself as feeling very strange, and after going to bed he woke up from a bad dream, thinking it was necessary to kill his parents.” Psychiatrists agreed he suffered from a serious mental disorder and he was sent to a secure hospital.

Both PC Burn and PC Kelsey were affected by the horrific scenes they had witnessed and feared they too could have been attacked. PC Kelsey said: “It was horrible; you don’t realize until you go to something like this how traumatic it is. If it had been a one-man officer who wasn’t Taser trained, it could have been a whole different story.”

When told they had been nominated for the South Yorkshire Police Federation Bravery Awards, PC Kelsey said: “I am very honoured. We’re under such public scrutiny, so it’s important to get recognition for doing something good. It’s nice to get that with Nicola too, because we’ve been through it together.”

PC Burn added: “Unfortunately, it’s not often you get really good praise. But I feel proud. It’s also nice to get praise for treating the man as a human being going through a crisis and making sure he’s okay, which many officers would struggle to do after just seeing what he’s going through done to someone But that’s your job. You have to treat everyone the same no matter what happened.”

PC Burn and PC Kelsey will attend the South Yorkshire Police Federation Bravery Awards on Thursday 23 May. A winner will be announced at the event who will travel to London for the National Police Federation Bravery Awards in July.

Chairman of the South Yorkshire Police Federation, Steve Kent, said: “Throughout this extremely distressing incident, Anna and Nicola have been extremely professional and remained calm in some of the most difficult circumstances a police officer can face. officer. Both officers performed their duties and followed their Taser training to the highest standard.

“Their communication skills and subsequent care for the suspect was also astounding despite being in extremely stressful and overwhelming circumstances.

“We are very proud of them – they are very deserving award winners.”

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