Meet the detective sergeant in a hit BBC 2 series who started his policing career at Sunderland's Gill Bridge Police Station

A detective sergeant, who started his career in Sunderland and recently featured in BBC 2's Forensics: The Real CSI, has spoken about his most memorable and devastating case.
Detective sergeant David GarrityDetective sergeant David Garrity
Detective sergeant David Garrity

Detective Sergeant Dave Garrity is one of Northumbria Police's specialist detectives working in the Safeguarding Department and leads a dedicated team of investigators.

Det Sgt Garrity joined the Force in 1996 as a probationer in Sunderland before becoming a detective in 1999 when he joined the local CID team.

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In 2004, he became part of a new Major Incident Team where he specialised in telecomms and trained as a Family Liaison Officer.

In 2009, Det Sgt Garrity joined the then-named Protecting Vulnerable People Department, which later became the Safeguarding Department, where he was responsible for investigating rapes, serious sexual assaults and also managing dangerous sex offenders.

Ten years on and Det Sgt Garrity is still dedicated to safeguarding victims of rape and domestic violence. He is one of the Detective Sergeants responsible for overseeing all of the rape investigations within Newcastle and Gateshead.

Det Sgt Garrity said: "It seems like five minutes ago I walked into Gill Bridge Police Station as a fresh-faced recruit ready to make a difference and put the bad guys away - which I know sounds cheesy but that is why I joined the police in the first place.

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"One of the most memorable cases I remember dealing with was that of a young lady who reported being abused and raped by her own father but later took her own life before he was convicted.

"I was genuinely devastated when I heard she had died. The small sense of justice was that he was eventually convicted for abusing and raping her and was sentenced to a long time behind bars.

"I think one of the hardest cases I have also dealt with was being the Family Liaison Officer for one of the Manchester bombing victims. The enormity of this case affected so many people across the country."

If you missed Forensics: The Real CSI you can watch it on BBC iPlayer to see how officers and crime scene investigators tackle real-life crime scenes and investigations.