Roll of Honor
Incident
On 4th July 2010, while sitting in his stationary patrol car on the outskirts of Newcastle, PC Rathband was shot at close range by a man being sought by police for shooting his former girlfriend and killing her new boyfriend.
As a result of the shooting, David lost his sight in both eyes and and suffered post traumatic stress, which ultimately led him to take his own life while at home on 29th February 2012.
PC Rathband was praised for his charity work after starting the Blue Lamp Foundation to help emergency service staff injured in the line of duty.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-GB-NOP-0ADB3D40- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 8, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
Police Constable David Rathband served with the Northumbria Police.
Thank you for your service. We will always remember your sacrifice.
You belong on this wall. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Constable David Rathband is one of 256 officers honored for deaths connected to the weight of the job across the full record of this memorial — 0.8% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In ENG, 39 of 2,827 officers were honored for deaths connected to the weight of the job — 1.4% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 0.8%.
At Northumbria Police, 1 of 11 officers on record were honored for deaths connected to the weight of the job — 9.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Suicide compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. David Rathband's cause is highlighted.
How David Rathband Compares
When Suicide Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Suicide deaths across the full memorial record. David Rathband is highlighted in Feb.
Others Who Wore This Badge
10 officers from Northumbria Police are honored on badge.nw.
