THE PROFESSIONALISM of Hampshire police officers, including two whose work resulted in a man being imprisoned for killing a cyclist near Bentley in a road traffic incident, have been celebrated at a special awards ceremony.

The Joint Operations Unit Commendations (JOU) Ceremony saw a total of 25 officers and staff recognised for excellent service and courage when faced with some truly threatening and daunting scenes.

The individuals, as well as three police dogs, were honoured at the ceremony at Sulhamstead police training centre in Berkshire on Friday, December 2.

Recognised for their dedication and tenacity when a cyclist died after being hit by a van on the A31 near Bentley were PC Emma Clifford from the Forensic Collision Investigation Unit and PC Dave Mitchell from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit.

Despite having no witnesses to the collision, PC Clifford and PC Mitchell made sure they got the evidence needed to put the driver responsible behind bars.

On August 12, 2015, Lee Martin was riding along the A31 near Bentley, when he was struck from behind at speed by a transit van.

Mr Martin, 48, sadly died and initial investigations showed that the driver, Christopher Gard, 30, from Alton, had previous convictions for using his mobile while driving, the most recent just six weeks before the incident.

PC Clifford and PC Mitchell began an extremely thorough investigation but there were no witnesses to confirm he was using his phone.

But despite this they presented a superbly compelling case showing that he had in fact been texting and had deleted messages from his phone before it was seized by police.

He was sentenced to nine years in jail and disqualified from driving for 14 years and six months.

It is testament to the quality of evidence submitted by the officers that Gard had no option but to plead guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, said JOU Chief Superintendent Stephen Williams.

The JOU is a collaboration between Hampshire Constabulary and Thames Valley Police which covers three broad areas of policing, Operations, Roads Policing and Firearms.

The unit was formed to bring together highly specialised units and teams with a vast array of skills to protect the communities within the two force areas.