Tributes to much-loved Herts police mum who's died of cancer

The family and friends of a much-loved police Sergeant from Hertfordshire who has died of cancer have paid tribute to her.

Sergeant Leah McDermott, age 46, passed away on Friday June 26 leaving behind herhusband, Karl and their 11-year-old twins, Chloe and Abbie.

Leah was passionate about the police from a young age because her father was aPolice Inspector in Hertford.

After leaving school, she initially worked for the ambulance service before joining the Constabulary as a call handler in the Force Control Room in 1995.

She made the decision to follow in her father’s footsteps in 2002 by joining up as a policeconstable and was stationed in St Albans as an intervention officer.

During her 18-year career with the police, Leah worked in Stevenage as a custody officerand a Safer Neighbourhood Team Sergeant in Bushey and Radlett. Most recently, she wasthe Safer Neighbourhood Sergeant for Borehamwood and Elstree.

She first met her husband Karl, a former Hertfordshire police officer, in 2002 when heworked with her at St Albans police station.

They married in 2005 and their twin daughterswere born in 2009. Karl described Leah as his “best friend, wife, the best mother and myeverything.”

Leah was loved and respected by colleagues and friends across the force, who have all been paying tribute to her.

She has been described as ‘efficient,’ ‘a great boss, who wanted youto achieve your best,’ ‘hardworking, ‘ ‘compassionate,’ ‘dedicated,’ ‘a multi-tasker,’ ‘strictbut fair and you knew where you stood with her,’ and she was ‘devoted to the job.’

Leah joined the police to help people and her compassion was one of her many greatattributes. She would always go the extra mile to help victims, especially those who hadsuffered from domestic abuse, something she was passionate about putting a stop to.

As well as being a dedicated police officer, Leah was a devoted mother to her twindaughters.

She and her husband Karl would work opposite shifts so that they could bothspend time with their girls while progressing their careers. They never had a day offtogether unless they were on holiday! It was here that they enjoyed family time in theMaldives, Dubai, Norfolk and more recently Cyprus.

As well as being a full-time police Sergeant who was responsible for a team of PCs andPCSOs and mother of twins, Leah was also a personal trainer and even ran the LondonMarathon in 2018.

She also found time to be a school governor and had a reputation as an amazing cook.

Many of her friends have funny stories to tell about Leah, including the time she accidentlyreversed a police van into a tree!”

A private police funeral with be held for Leah next week with limited family and friends inattendance due to the Covid-19 restrictions. The cortege will travel past Stevenage policestation on Lytton Way where colleagues will be able to pay their respects.

On the same day, the flag at police Headquarters in Welwyn Garden City will fly at half mastas a mark of respect to a truly outstanding police officer.