A TEAM of detectives from West Mercia Police have won a prestigious policing award for their work to snare serial killer Joanne Dennehy and her accomplice Gary Stretch.

The Operation Dante team – made up of detectives from West Mercia and Warwickshire police forces – were named joint winners of this year’s Detective Investigation of the Year Award at the Police Federation National Detective Forum in Brighton on Thursday, October 23.

They shared the award with the Operation Darcy team, its sister group from Cambridgeshire police’s Major Crime Unit, for their work catching Dennehy and Stretch.

The pair were already wanted in connection with three murders in Cambridgeshire when they travelled 140 miles to Hereford to on April 2 last year, where they randomly stabbed two men – Robin Bereza and John Rogers – out walking their dogs.

Dennehy became only the third women to ever be handed a whole-life prison sentence in February while Stretch was jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years.

Detective Superintendent Paul Williamson, who led the West Mercia investigation, said winning the award was “a really proud moment”.

“It is a rare event for a serial killer to come to Hereford and our collective response as a force was second to none,” he said.

“The prompt and effective arrest of Joanne Dennehy and her accomplice Gary Stretch following their random attacks on two complete strangers on the streets of Hereford and the evidence that we gathered contributed significantly to ensuring that these dangerous and callous offenders were locked up and that justice was served for the victims of their crimes, whose lives have been damaged forever.

DS Williams paid tribute to his colleagues, saying their work had prevented other people from being hurt or killed.