An off-duty Hampshire Police officer who dragged an injured and violent man off a busy motorway carriage, saving his life, has been nominated for The National Police Bravery Awards.

PC Jordan Janaway wrestled with the man, who was in the middle of a mental health 'crisis', after he had tried to attack his own father and other innocent motorists with a hammer on the M3.

As a nominee, she'll now attend a reception and an awards ceremony in London in July.

At around 4pm on November 14, 2020, PC Janaway, who had only been a police officer for a few months, was off-duty and driving along the motorway to get to work.

Coming towards Winchester, she saw a vehicle parked in the hatched area that separates the slip road from the first lane of the motorway. She then saw a man in front of the vehicle, frantically waving his arms, with another man lying on the ground, partially in the live lane, forcing her to brake hard to avoid hitting him.

She pulled over and got out to assist the driver of the stopped vehicle, who said that he had hit the man after he had stepped out in front of his car. They both dragged the injured man out of the live lane and to relative safety on the hard shoulder.

He was bleeding from his head but was conscious. Another motorist approached and said that the injured man had just tried to attack him with a hammer and had also been fighting with someone else, which is when PC Janaway spotted a hammer in the second lane of the motorway.

The injured man started to talk and made a further attempt to get up and move towards the carriageway, forcing PC Janaway and the member of the public assisting to restrain him to stop him moving into the live lane.

He then started to try to pull PC Janaway down towards him, attempting to sexually assault her. The man was restrained until on-duty officers arrived and handcuffed him.

It transpired that the man had attacked his own father with a hammer immediately prior to PC Janaway's arrival while in a van on the M3 and had tried to attack others in a violent mental health crisis.

Hampshire Police federation chair Zoë Wakefield said: “Jordan showed immense bravery and integrity by stopping to assist with this incident while off-duty, at great risk to herself.

“She was only months into being a police officer and had no personal protection equipment whatsoever.

“Jordan almost certainly prevented this man’s death by pulling him out of the live carriageway and then keeping him down, even though he was a large, strong man. We are very proud of her actions.”

The National Police Bravery Awards honour officers from across England and Wales who have performed outstanding acts of bravery while on or off duty. The National Police Bravery Awards are sponsored by Police Mutual.