Around 2,000 mourners, including up to a thousand UK policemen and women, joined family and friends of PC Dave Phillips for his funeral at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral today.
The service was attended by police officers from all over the country, including the Greater Manchester Police choir plus a pipes and drum band from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Prior to the funeral, the family of PC Phillips followed the funeral cortege in a tribute march along The Strand, past Merseyside Police HQ and up Duke Street to the cathedral.
The Wirral father of two, 34, was killed after trying to stop a stolen truck in Wallasey on October 5th. He is survived by his wife Jen and daughters Abigail, seven, and Sophie, three .
Video report by JMU Journalism TV
The ceremony was led by the Rev Lyndon Bannon, assistant priest at Willaston in Wirral and assistant head teacher of Woodchurch High School.
The Dean of Liverpool, the Very Rev Dr Peter Wilcox, welcomed the congregation, and the sermon was read by the Right Rev Keith Sinclair, the Bishop of Birkenhead. The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev Paul Bayes gave the blessing.
Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Sir Jon Murphy, told the congregation: “Constable 6554 Dave Phillips came to the police from the community of the Wirral – a local boy who joined his local force, Merseyside Police, to serve his local community.
“Dave did this with dedication, with humility and with great courage. In serving his community Dave paid the ultimate sacrifice. The public, not just of the Wirral and of Merseyside, but the whole of the country, has been outraged by his loss and the pain caused to his family, his friends and his colleagues.”
Hymns included ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd’ and ‘I Vow To Thee My Country’, along with performances of two songs from the musical Les Miserables; a favourite of PC Phillips and his wife.
A poem was read by PC Phillips’ sister, Hannah Whieldon, who said of her brother: “He would never boast or brag about himself, or place himself above others; preferring instead a quiet, self-deprecating humour, but I will proudly claim that title for him, for no man embodied the spirit of a true hero more.”
Photo galleries by Amber Pritchard & Lewis Price. Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the images
