Paul Taylor, an LNER employee from Bedford, has been recognised by police in Germany after stepping in to assist a police officer who was being attacked at Cologne Central Station.

Paul works onboard LNER trains as a Revenue Protection and Fraud Officer, and was enjoying a motorcycle trip through Germany in late October when they noticed the man attacking the officer and knocking him to the ground.

Paul attempted to restrain the attacker, which lead to a struggle and the assailant attempting to get hold of the automatic pistol that the police officer had.

Thanks to Paul and an off-duty police officer who was passing by, the situation subsided until police arrived.

Following the incident, Paul enjoyed the rest of his holiday, knowing that he helped to prevent a more serious incident taking place.

Little did Paul know that the Head of the Federal Police in Cologne, Udo Peltzer, had written to LNER to inform them of Paul’s help and asked for assistance in sending Paul a formal letter of gratitude and special coin.

The letter from Mr Peltzer stated: “Mr Taylor realised the dangerous situation and… showed brave and exemplary behaviour which turned out to be decisive to protect the federal police officer.

“For this commitment and support, I would like to express my gratitude on behalf of the Federal Police District Office of Cologne and of the officer who was injured.”

With the letter was a special coin that is usually given to officers who went above and beyond the line of duty.

On receiving the letter and challenge coin, Paul said: “I’m really honoured to receive this wonderful recognition. I’m so thankful that we were able to intervene as quickly as we did, as it was clear that the assailant was after the gun and had he managed to get it then goodness knows what could’ve happened.”

David Horne, Managing Director of LNER, said: “We’re all incredibly proud of Paul for averting what was set to be a much more serious incident. Intervening as he did required a huge amount of bravery, so we were delighted to help recognise his actions.”

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