Award for officer who helped bring serial killer Joanne Dennehy to justice

Scenes of Crime Officer Zoe Davies, (34) received a prize at an awards ceremony for staff working for the Joint Protective Services (JPS) Command covering Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

The awards recognise occasions when officers and staff have acted in an outstandingly courageous or resourceful manner, over and above what could be expected of them.

All recipients received an Assistant Chief Constable’s award.

Dennehy stabbed three men to death in 2013 leaving their bodies in ditches in the Peterborough area. She then travelled to Hereford where she randomly stabbed two others, both survived.

Dennehy is one of only three women in Britain to be given a whole-life term, alongside Rose West and Myra Hindley, but the first to be given the term by a judge – West and Hindley were both given the sentences by home secretaries.

Operation Darcy was one of the biggest and most serious investigations for both police force areas in recent times, involving multiple murders, the disposal of the bodies and a subsequent nationwide manhunt for a rare female serial killer and her accomplices.

Zoe was unable to attend the ceremony but received her award at work.

More: Timeline and full coverage of Joanne Dennehy case