Retired former Sunderland detective reunited with the helmet he wore as a beat bobby 50 years ago after miracle find

Thomas Parker, 73, joined the police in 1965 as a bushy-tailed teenager at a time when police boxes were dotted about and modern forces were still to take shape.

He began on the beat with South Shields Police and went on to spend three decades serving in what became Durham Constabulary, and then Northumbria Police, including for Sunderland CID.

After 30 years of service helping keep the communities of Sunderland and South Tyneside safe, Pc Parker retired in 1995 and took with him a lifetime of stories and fond memories.

And a surprising turn of events this week helped his days as a crime-cracking constable come flooding back.

While leading a crime prevention event in South Tyneside, PC James Gordon, who works with the Force’s southern community engagement team, was approached by a charity shop owner who had received a donation of a rare "South Shields Police" helmet.

With "PC 40 T.Parker" faintly etched on the inside of the helmet, the engagement team began to contact some of the force’s former faces on social media in a bid to trace the original owner.