Murder of Stephen Oake

DC Stephen Robin Oake was a police officer serving as an anti-terrorism detective with Greater Manchester Police in the United Kingdom who was murdered while attempting to arrest a suspected terrorist in Manchester on 14 January 2003.

He was posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

Background

Oake was born in Poynton, Cheshire; his father Robin Oake is a former chief constable of the Isle of Man Constabulary and a recipient of the Queen's Police Medal. Stephen Oake served with Greater Manchester Police for almost 20 years until his death and as an anti-terrorism detective in the special branch since 1999. In 2002 he was commended for his professional skills and expertise.

Murder

On 14 January 2003, Oake and colleagues went to Flat 4, 4 Crumpsall Lane, in the Crumpsall area of north Manchester, as part of an immigration operation. The resident was not expected to be there, but the police found three men, including Algerian illegal immigrant Kamel Bourgass, who had arrived in England in the back of a lorry three years before. Bourgass, who had attended Al-Muhajiroun meetings in the months leading up to the attack, was not immediately recognised despite being wanted in London in connection with what became known as the Wood Green ricin plot, a bioterrorism plot to attack the London Underground. He was not perceived to pose a threat and thus was not handcuffed by the officers.

However, believing that the officers had identified him in connection with the ricin plot, Bourgass made an attempt to escape and, in the process of doing so, punched one officer and picked up a kitchen knife.