Andrew Pennington

Andrew Pennington
Andrew Pennington; GM
Born	Andrew James Pennington; 1 February 1960; Warrington, Lancashire, England
Died	28 January 2000 (aged 39); Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Cause of death	Stabbed
Nationality	British
Known for	Murder victim
Political party	Liberal Democrats

Andrew James Pennington GM (1 February 1960 – 28 January 2000) was a British politician, and a posthumous recipient of the George Medal in 2001.

Background

Pennington lived in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He was elected as a Liberal to Gloucestershire County Council in the 1985 election, defeating the sitting Labour councillor in Hesters Way division with a majority of 183 votes.[1] He was re-elected in 1989 and in 1993 he won his seat for the Liberal Democrats with 73.3% of the vote.[2]

Death

On 28 January 2000 Pennington was acting as an assistant to Nigel Jones, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, during Jones's constituency surgery. A constituent, whom Jones had been helping with legal disputes, attended the surgery and suddenly attacked him with a samurai sword. Pennington came to Jones's defence but was fatally injured; he was stabbed nine times from behind – with at least six of the wounds going all the way through his body. Jones was badly injured in the hands.[3]

George Medal

Pennington was posthumously awarded the George Medal by Queen Elizabeth II on 30 October 2001. The citation reads:

For his actions in saving the life of a man who had been attacked by another man armed with a samurai sword.

On 28 January 2000, a member of parliament was holding a surgery for his constituents at his office in Cheltenham. Mr Andrew Pennington was assisting him when the receptionist showed a man into the office. The MP invited the man, who was wearing a full-length overcoat buttoned up to the neck, to sit down but the man declined and stood in front of the MP while he read a letter on which he had been asked to advise. A short conversation took place between them, whilst Mr Pennington looked on, but then the man began to talk nonsensically and without warning reached into his coat and drew out a long curved sword. He stood with the sword raised above his head in both hands, and as the MP stood up, lowered it, pointing the sword tip at the MP's midriff. At this point, Mr Pennington ran to the door of the office and called to the receptionist to get help.
Suddenly, the man lunged forward and thrust the sword at the MP who managed to deflect it with his left arm before grabbing the blade with both hands. The man tried to pull the sword from the MP's grip and he fell face down onto the sofa with the sword beneath him. The man fell on top of him and struggled to wrestle the sword free without success. Mr Pennington then hit the man from behind and dragged him off the MP, telling the MP to get away. The MP managed to escape and ran out of the office to summon help, but the man got hold of the sword again. A violent struggle then took place in which Mr Pennington tried to restrain the man but was stabbed repeatedly with the sword and was fatally wounded. Mr Pennington died shortly afterwards from his injuries and the man was later arrested.[4]

Trial and aftermath

In February 2001 Robert Ashman, 49, of Lansdown Place, Cheltenham, was initially charged with the murder of Pennington and the attempted murder of Jones but the jury at Bristol Crown Court decided that he was mentally unfit to stand trial. After a three-day hearing they returned a unanimous verdict that Ashman did kill Pennington and by a majority verdict that he injured Jones. Ashman was sent to a secure hospital for an indefinite time.[5][6] The High Court judge said at the time that Ashman was so disturbed that "she could not foresee a time when he would be safely released."[7]

Ashman was released in July 2008, after psychiatrists determined that he was no longer dangerous.[7] In 2009, he was living temporarily in Bristol and told authorities that he wished to move to Gloucester, close to where Lord Jones and his family live. Jones raised concerns with Home Secretary Jack Straw about the proposal.[7]

References

Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "County Council Election Results in England: A Statistical Digest", Centre for the Study of Local Elections, Plymouth Polytechnic, 1985, vol 1, p. 315.
Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "Local Elections Handbook 1993", Polytechnic South West, 1993, p. 57.
"Medal for man who died saving MP". BBC News. 30 October 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
"No. 56374". The London Gazette. 30 October 2001. p. 12751.
"Lib Dems mourn lost councillor". BBC News. 25 February 2000. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
"Sword man sent to secure hospital". BBC News. 21 February 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
Christopher Hope, Former MP attacked with sword fears for his safety after assailant tries to move in nearby, The Daily Telegraph (19 March 2009).

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[1] Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "County Council Election Results in England: A Statistical Digest", Centre for the Study of Local Elections, Plymouth Polytechnic, 1985, vol 1, p. 315.

[2] Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "Local Elections Handbook 1993", Polytechnic South West, 1993, p. 57.

[3] "Medal for man who died saving MP". BBC News. 30 October 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2016.

[4] "No. 56374". The London Gazette. 30 October 2001. p. 12751.

[5] "Lib Dems mourn lost councillor". BBC News. 25 February 2000. Retrieved 23 November 2016.

[6] "Sword man sent to secure hospital". BBC News. 21 February 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2016.

[Hope-7] Christopher Hope, Former MP attacked with sword fears for his safety after assailant tries to move in nearby, The Daily Telegraph (19 March 2009).