Andrew Pennington
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Andrew Pennington GM |
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|---|---|
| Born |
Andrew James Pennington 1 February 1960 Warrington, Cheshire, England |
| Died | 28 January 2000 (aged 39) Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Cause of death | Stabbed |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Murder victim |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Andrew James Pennington GM (1 February 1960 – 28 January 2000) was a British politician, and a posthumous recipient of the George Medal in 2001.
Pennington lived in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He was elected as a Liberal to Gloucestershire County Council in the 1985 election, defeating the sitting Labour councillor in Hesters Way division with a majority of 183 votes. He was re-elected in 1989 and in 1993 he won his seat for the Liberal Democrats with 73.3% of the vote.
On 28 January 2000 Pennington was acting as an assistant to Nigel Jones, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, during Jones's constituency surgery. A constituent whom Jones had been helping with legal disputes attended the surgery suddenly attacked him with a samurai sword; Pennington came to Jones's defence but was fatally injured; he was stabbed nine times from behind - with at least six of the wounds going all the way through his body. Jones survived but required two hours of surgery as his hands were badly cut. He had 57 stitches on one hand and on the other he suffered a cut tendon.
Pennington was posthumously awarded the George Medal by Queen Elizabeth II on 30 October 2001. The citation reads:
For his actions in saving the life of a man who had been attacked by another man armed with a samurai sword.
On 28 January 2000, a Member of Parliament was holding a surgery for his constituents at his office in Cheltenham. Mr Andrew Pennington was assisting him when the receptionist showed a man into the office. The MP invited the man, who was wearing a full-length overcoat buttoned up to the neck, to sit down but the man declined and stood in front of the MP while he read a letter on which he had been asked to advise. A short conversation took place between them, whilst Mr Pennington looked on, but then the man began to talk nonsensically and without warning reached into his coat and drew out a long curved sword. He stood with the sword raised above his head in both hands, and as the MP stood up, lowered it, pointing the sword tip at the MP’s midriff. At this point, Mr Pennington ran to the door of the office and called to the receptionist to get help.
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