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Handler – officer Ian Hankin
Police officer’s fond farewell to the loyal canine companion who saved his life
A police officer has said a fond farewell to a loyal companion who helped stop countless crimes and may have even saved his life. When PD Diesel, a 13-year-old German Shepherd, passed away earlier this month, Northumbria Police officer Ian Hankin, 41 lost not just a beloved family pet, but a hard-working colleague who always had his back. One of the first of a new line of pups to be bred in-house by the force, Diesel had been by Ian’s side ever since he was born. “The bond between us was unreal,” the officer said. “At work, he was a big dog, brave, nothing phased him, he was so confident, but as soon as he went home he was a big softie, he just wanted to be around people.” Ian, who works in Etal Lane Police Station, in Newcastle, trained Diesel himself, and he lived in the family home. As he got older, and was able to settle in to a well-earned retirement at the age of seven, he doted on Ian’s one-year-old daughter Rosie, who is quickly learning to share her dad’s lifelong love of dogs. In the field, the crime-fighting duo saw plenty of action — a particularly vicious kick from a crowd member one Derby Day left the canine cop with a ‘cauliflower ear’ for the rest of his life, but they were never deterred from doing their duty. Ian described one terrifying incident, when the pair were called to reports of a man with a samurai sword who had been spotted near a school. Approaching the offender, Ian couldn’t see the weapon, until the man revealed the wickedly sharp sword hidden in his trousers. He just managed to let Diesel loose in time, and the brave hound leapt straight in front of his master, facing the sword-wielding criminal down. “If he didn’t save my life, he definitely saved me from very serious injury,” Ian said. “I was ok in that situation because of Diesel, that’s the only reason I got out. “I never felt scared when he was next to me – I knew he would protect me no matter what.” Intimidating to offenders, sensitive Diesel also knew just when to deploy the soft touch. On one occasion, he was out helping to search for a missing teenager. Finding her hidden behind a tree, Ian said Diesel “clearly recognised she wasn’t a threat”, and gently helped to coax her back home. Although all police dogs need to be loyal and well-trained, Diesel and his siblings were prodigies from the start. Graduating at a younger age than most dogs, they quickly became integrated into force life, and Diesel quickly proved “He was born to be a police dog,” Ian said.
