'It was like The Shining when the shovel came through the door'

A police dog who defended his handler from an aggressive man wielding a shovel has won a bravery award.

On 1 July last year, four-year-old PD Yoiko and handler PC Tom Marsden were called to a smoke-filled flat in Hull where a man was acting aggressively and threatening officers.

PC Marsden said it "like the scene from The Shining" - a 1980s horror film - when the suspect ploughed the shovel through the door which he was sheltering behind.

Yoiko copped a Thin Blue Paw Foundation award after launching himself at the suspect, biting and pinning him down in order to save his handler's life.

PC Marsden, of Humberside Police, said the suspect, who was under the influence of drink and drugs, had set curtains and pieces of furniture in the flat alight.

He added: "The street was carnage. There were members of the public everywhere, all the windows were smashed out... there was glass shattered all over the place."

PC Marsden, 31, from Hull, said the suspect "managed to get his shovel" through the flat's wooden door and was "trying to hurt officers on the other side of it".

Negotiators and riot police were also called to the incident. PC Marsden said when the suspect was asked to come out, the suspect threatened: "I'll kill your dog."

The man then raised the shovel towards PC Marsden and Yoiko before the dog jumped up "without hesitation", bit his stomach and pinned him down.

"He started to bring the shovel down towards Yoiko's back," PC Marsden said.

"I put my hand out and it smacked onto my finger, onto my wedding ring."

The pair tackled the suspect to the ground.

The man was arrested and charged with multiple offences, including assaulting emergency workers. He was jailed for four years last month.

PC Marsden said: "If you find that missing person or that criminal who has been causing no end of issues, you put an end to that person's awful day.

"It's an unbelievable high which you never get tired of. You never get bored of it."

Yoiko was treated to a McDonald's double-cheeseburger afterwards.

PC Marsden will attend a ceremony at the Kennel Club, London, on Wednesday to accept the outstanding bravery award for his dog.

"Winning the Thin Blue Paw Foundation award means the world to us. We don't do it for recognition but to have that recognition is ace," he said.

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