A POLICE constable has been recognised for going above and beyond to solve a crime.

PC John Forster, of Darlington police, was recently presented with a Wow! Award for his efforts to solve a mobile phone theft from an office in the town after being nominated by a member of the public.

Despite it being extremely difficult to prove who had been involved, PC Forster conducted a number of interviews with staff at the office until he found a possible suspect.

He interviewed the suspect who confessed to the theft, returned the phone and was dealt with using restorative justice.

His nomination said: “PC Forster showed what I believe to be diligence and resilience, gave a feeling of significant reassurance to the users of the office facility who had been shaken - and were glad of the serious police attendance and follow up - and presented an extremely positive picture of Durham Constabulary.”

PC Forster said that as there was no evidence, he used his gut instinct to find the culprit.

"They initially just wanted a crime reference number and didn’t expect that much work," he added.

“There was no evidence, no fingerprints; it was a case of not being happy with the things he said.”