Gwent Police officers who saved lives by taking on a rampaging water buffalo win bravery award

Credit: Police Federation

Two Gwent police officers who risked their lives trying to stop a rampaging water buffalo from attacking its owners have won a regional award at the 2021 Police Federation Bravery Awards.

PC Mark Burbidge and PC Owain Smallwood from Gwent won the award for their bravery during a harrowing incident on a Monmouthshire farm where a father and son were killed in May 2020.

Officers received reports of two people being attacked by a water buffalo on the farm in Upper Berthllwyd, near Usk. Ralph Jump, 57, and his son Peter, 19, were both fatally injured by the animal.

Mr Jump was dragged down the field by the bull, named Yolo, before Peter tried to save him. Ralph's daughter, Isabel, was also attacked but survived the incident.

Water buffalo Credit: The Bufalina Soap Company

PC Mark Burbidge and PC Owain Smallwood arrived at the farm and confronted the buffalo which was charging at Isabel and her mother Josephine.

As they approached the field, the buffalo charged the daughter, picking her up in its horns “like a rag doll” and throwing her to the ground, burying its horns into her.

They confronted the water buffalo using only metal poles until marksmen arrived, and even then standard police weapons were not powerful enough to kill it.

Officers had to form a protective line so that paramedics were able to get to the injured men. Ralph Jump died at the scene while Peter was airlifted to hospital where he later died after surgery.

Ralph Jump, 57, and his son Peter, 19, suffered fatal injuries.

Steve Thorpe, chair of Gwent Police Federation, said: “I commend these officers for their bravery at an incident they had never trained for and where the equipment initially available to them was ineffective.

“Despite this, all involved risked their own lives, facing a clearly dangerous and unpredictable animal, in an attempt to save the lives of those injured and protect others.”

Mr Jump rented the idyllic country farm near Usk, Gwent, to start a sustainable buffalo soap business where he hand-reared the buffalo.

The water buffalo was destroyed following the incident.