A brave teenager who chased down an opportunist thief at a Fife hospital has been given a tour of Police Scotland Fife Division headquarters in Glenrothes.
Joe Lafferty, 14, from Kirkcaldy, was given a tour which included the CCTV room, dog section and road policing department.
Joe, who has ambitions to become a police officer, was invited on a tour of the station by Dougie Milton, Fife Division’s operations superintendent.
He had been impressed with Joe’s actions when he tackled an opportunist thief at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on February 16 and sent him an invite.
Joe, who is a third year pupil at Kirkcaldy High School, was undergoing dental treatment at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy when an elderly lady had her handbag snatched.
Elizabeth Borthwick, an 84-year-old volunteer with the Royal Voluntary Service at the Victoria, had just used the cash machine when her bag was grabbed.
As the thief fled through the hospital corridors, RVS manager Alyson Hutton shouted for him to stop and, without thought for his own safety, Joe chased the man and recovered the bag.
The accused, who was later traced by police through CCTV, was arrested, charged and pleaded guilty to theft.
Joe told The Courier this week: “It wasn’t really a big deal.”