How a Sunderland police officer became the cardboard cop used to ward off shoplifters across the UK

PC Neil Parkin has spent 25 years serving the residents and businesses of the city, as well as time on the beat in Washington and Houghton.

The 55-year-old’s time on patrol means he is a familiar face to many across Wearside also across the country following a decision he made a decade ago that inadvertently saw him snowball into stardom.

The Northumbria Police officer’s face can be seen on a life-size cardboard cut-out which has been placed in every Morrison’s supermarket store across the UK, with his cutout even given a mention in QI in a discussion about how using them in stores can help deter criminals.

It began when a friend of a friend's son took his picture for his photography degree and first appeared in children’s books and on posters.

The image was later taken up by the supermarket chain to ward off thieves and troublemakers.

PC Parkin said: “I think I’m now being used in all of their UK stores, and even in one of their supermarkets in Gibraltar.

“I’ve never heard the end of it from colleagues and family, to be honest – and before I was due to retire in March, a few of the cops thought it would be amusing to get a picture of me with my cardboard self in the Seaburn store.

“It’s not quite the legacy in policing I thought I’d leave, but it’s funny all the same.”

PC Parkin is now due to return to the force as a police staff investigator, where he will assist detectives who are dealing with some of the region’s most serious crimes across Sunderland and South Tyneside.

The officer defied the odds with the force in a host of ways, including the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis when he was aged 13 and a student at Monkwearmouth School.

He was encouraged by his PE teacher to keep fit and active, with the Foundation of Light helped by his fundraising cycling efforts, with challenges including riding from Brussels to Paris, across France and from Poland to Prague among his achievements.

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