DISTRIBUTING aid to stricken communities, training local officers and hunting for an escaped murder suspect – these were just some of the experiences of a Lampeter police officer deployed to the hurricane-hit British Virgin Islands in October.

PC Matt Richards will be reflecting on his testing time on the devastated Caribbean islands during his delayed honeymoon on the Cook Islands this week.

“Yes, you could say my work out there was somewhat different to patrolling the streets of Lampeter,” he told the Cambrian News.

Matt, 35, was among a group of Dyfed-Powys Police officers who spent four weeks supporting police and helping people rebuild their lives on Tortola Island, which was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September.

And he quickly found that police procedures were very different to those followed by the Dyfed-Powys force.

“We flew into this scene of devastation,” he recalled.

“Boats were tipped upside down, roofs missing from houses and roads torn up – that sort of thing.

“One boat charter owner said she had lost all but four of the 52 boats she once owned.

“The local prison had also been damaged which is why this guy on remand for murder was on the loose.

“At one point I was helping this armed BVI officer search an empty building under construction.

“Before I knew what was happening he gave me a handgun and told me to go one way while he went the other. His only instruction was: ‘Don’t shoot me’!

“Luckily the place was empty and I handed the gun back to him double-quick. Like I said, police over there have a very different approach to ours!”

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now