FOUR police officers who arrested a mentally-ill and armed killer have become the first recipients of a 44-year-old bravery award.

They collected the O'Donnell Trophy -- created in memory of a detective inspector shot on duty in 1958 -- on the same day as the opening of new police headquarters in Whitebirk, Blackburn.

And after the ceremony Carole Rigby hailed their bravery in capturing her son's killer.

Acting Insp Joanne Lightbown, DC Alan Bentley, PC Anna Dent and PC Ian Tiffin arrested Mark Harrington on January 9 2002 in Walter Street, Audley, Blackburn.

They had followed his BMW after spotting it while on patrol. Insp Lightbown and DC Bentley called for armed back up.

Constables Dent and Triffin arrived and forced Harrington to pull over.

Insp Lightbown and DC Bentley formed a human shield around Harrington, 20 at the time, to protect the public as the two armed officers persuaded the suspect to leave the car.

After the arrest, it was found he had a loaded gun -- the same one used to shoot 19-year-old Anthony Rigby in the head the day before at a flat in Swift Close, Larkhill.

Insp Lightbown said: "It seemed like a routine day and we felt like we had done our job.

"However, afterwards when we found the gun was loaded we went through the possibilities."

Carole Rigby, of Corwen Close, Blackburn, who was not at the ceremony, said: "The officers who disarmed him were very brave. They put their lives on the line and it could quite easily have been one of their families who lost a loved one like we did.

"I have the utmost respect for everyone at Blackburn Police Station and everyone involved in the investigation." Anthony Rigby died on January 11. Mark Harrington was detained indefinitely at a secure mental unit last September after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The O'Donnell trophy commemorates James O'Donnell, the chief of Blackburn CID who died on December 12, 1958, after being shot in the town's Brewery Street siege the day before.

He had gone into a house to talk to Henry King, who had just shot his wife Sheila and PC Jack Covill.

The trophy was not presented initially because police judged no one worthy enough -- then it appears to have been forgotten.

But police chiefs decided to resurrect it 44 years on as a way of remembering the past as the force moved into new, £7.3 million headquarters.

And to add poignancy, PC Covill, 74 and retired for 25 years, presented the trophy in a room at the police station named after James O'Donnell.

Insp Lightbown said: "We think it is a great honour with regards to the trophy's history.

"To be the first people to win it is very special."