Drunk driver praises police in 'heartwarming' letter to the Met commissioner

The anonymous driver was pulled over in east London and thanked the police who arrested him for being so respectful

A drunk driver sent a thank you note to the Metropolitan Police commissioner praising the officer who stopped him from going down “a path he was heading for.”

The anonymous writer sent the letter to Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe earlier in June after being stopped in Upminster, east London, on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

He told Sir Hogan-Howe that he had learned a “very valuable lesson” from Pc Martin Gillett who pulled him over and instructed him to do a breathalyser test which he failed.

He told the commissioner that he shook “puzzled” Pc Gillett’s hand after being arrested and charged at Romford Police Station.

“But I would like to say that during this time, even though I had done wrong I was treated with courtesy and respect by all of your officers,” he said. He added that 'Your officers do a fantastic job and I think he saved me from going down a path I was heading for.

He finished by calling Pc Gillett “a credit to the Metropolitan Police Service.”

The traffic officer was later interviewed by local paper the Romford Recorder. He told the reporter that “every officer likes to receive letters of thanks but this is an unusual one. The fact this driver felt compelled to write to the commissioner is heart warming.

“The chap had been arrested and was ultimately charged. So to receive thanks is very rare indeed.

“He was very compliant and humble from the start and gave me the impression he knew what he did was very, very wrong.”