Billy Burns wants to see the introduction of a new medal recognising injured police officers
By Adam Toms
Express Online – 15 January 2026
Looking at Billy Burns’s face today, you would never have guessed that it was once a bloody mess having been shot by an armed robber. The former police officer, 74, sat on his sofa in the living room of his Bristol home 43 years later, surrounded by press clippings about the horror incident and a Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct signed by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Mr Burns left the police in 1986 after 10 years of service due to finding himself physically “shattered” and suffering from what he believes to be PTSD following the traumatic incident on April 6, 1983 at a Lloyds Bank in Bristol.
His wife, Margaret, was pregnant with the couple's third child at the time. The gunman, Stephen Korsa-Acquah, fled the scene and hijacked two vehicles, leaving the heroic officer with five shattered teeth and a bullet lodged in his throat. He was pursued through three counties before being nicked on the M4. He served two decades in prison, including a lengthy stint in Broadmoor, for the attempted murder of Mr Burns, who had to endure a lot of oral surgery and dental work, and 17 armed robberies. Mr Burns forgave Korsa-Acquah in accordance with his Christian faith, as he did not want to hang onto "bitterness". Today, he is seething at a lack of progress made by the Government on a new medal for responders who had to stop serving due to injury. “It’s a no brainer,” he tells The Express.
“It’s quite simple. Somebody’s backside needs to be kicked, and continue to be kicked. I think they need to get their finger out,”
the ex-copper adds.
“It’s been going on for a couple of hundred years. It’s quite difficult to work out why they haven’t done this, and I don’t think it’s been looked into deeply enough.”
A medal would fill a vacant space on the chest of proud discharged officers, Mr Burns, who set up his own locksmith and burglary business after leaving the force, said.
“I think it would mean the whole lot, not just the medal but the recognition at the moment is none,”
he said. He referred to the fatal shooting of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, who was gunned down as she arrived at the scene of the robbery at a travel agents in Bradford in 2005. Her colleague Teresa PC Milburn was seriously injured, and Mr Burns insisted that she should be recognised.
“You turn up, obviously in uniform, and the next thing the guy’s shooting you and blowing you up … Surely to goodness that we be recognised. There’s so many of them that actually took action and ended up with no official recognition, and that’s where the gap is.”
Mr Burns, who missed out on 20 years of a police salary, thinks the policy would be very popular, and blames what he calls a “hopeless” British legislative system that in his view takes too long to pass new laws and fobs people off. About his shooting, he said:
“I remember everything, but I never go there. I remember the details, I’ve spoken about it many times, but I don’t go into the darkness of being shot. I remember exactly what happened to me, and if I do, I get tearful. I was shattered … It knocked the stuffing out of me. I really was struggling.”
There was “no aftercare at all”, he lamented, adding that it is “just the same” now. The police hero doesn’t have flashbacks, but still suffers from fatigue, and becomes upset at instances of “poor treatment”.
“We become quite emotional at times … particularly if we’re watching something that is emotional. It makes me quite tearful.”
The Express approached policing minister Sarah Jones for an interview, which the Home Office denied. A spokesperson for the department said:
“It is only right that those who are injured in the line of duty are recognised in the appropriate manner. Work is ongoing to consider the most effective and meaningful way to do this.”
Tom Curry, 76, a former Sussex officer who himself was forced to retire after being attacked by a group of nightclub-goers in Hastings, leads the “999 Injured and Forgotten” campaign for a medal. He said on Tuesday that a meeting has been arranged, to be attended by himself, Conservative shadow minister, Matt Vickers; Liberal Democrat MP, Tom Morrison and Ms Jones for February 3.
“It’s good news for us,”
Mr Curry said. He pointed to a contribution from Tory MP Sir Julian Lewis in November, which was “spot on”.
Sir Julian told the House of Commons during a debate on an injury in service medal:
“I have listened carefully to the whole debate, and I thoroughly support the proposal. From the Minister’s summing up, it sounds as if the decision is more in the hands of civil servants than in those of Ministers.
“May I gently point out to him that civil servants are never remiss when it comes to awarding themselves all sorts of decorations and recognition? Here, it is more a question that the feeling of the House has made itself heard, and it really ought to be conveyed to those people to whom this task appears to have been delegated that they ought to do what they have been told by the elected representatives of the people of this country.”
This drew a round of applause from campaigners in the public gallery, who Mr Curry alleges received a “b******ing” from Parliamentary ushers afterwards.
Decisions on the creation of any new award are solely a matter for the King on the receipt of advice from the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals, it is understood. The Police Covenant aims to support the wellbeing of injured officers, and individuals who are forced to retire due to injuries sustained in the line of duty may be eligible for injury pensions and compensation payments.