A police officer and father of two young children was mown down and killed as he tried to stop a stolen pick-up truck which was being pursued after a burglary.
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“The Mitsubishi struck one of the officers and was then driven off at speed”, said Merseyside Police in a statement.
A Home Office postmortem examination said Phillips died from internal injuries suffered from the impact with the vehicle.
The neighbourhood patrol officer had been deployed to assist following a burglary at an estate agent’s premises on Woodchurch Road, Birkenhead, just after 1am that morning.
Sir Jon Murphy, chief constable of Merseyside, said at his Liverpool headquarters that Phillips was a highly competent, popular and highly-regarded policeman.
Stunned colleagues have paid tribute to PC Phillips on Facebook.
A forensic tent stands in Corbyn Street near the junction with Montrose Avenue and Birkenhead Road in Seacombe following the tragic death of PC David Phillips, who was killed after being involved in a collision with a stolen truck.
He said: “It is a reminder that every day, people in our police force, they get up, they put on their uniform and they take extraordinary risks on our behalf”.
A murder investigation is under way and police are examining CCTV.
“Sadly, David did not and his daughters will have to grow up without their father”.
Public donations flooded in to the justgivingpage created by a Wirral support worker to help PC Phillips’ loved ones including his wife Jen and daughters Abigail, seven, and Sophie, three.
Officers from across the country have offered their condolences following the death, which comes barely a week after National Police Memorial Day, an annual service to honour officers who have died in the line of duty.
Bedfordshire Police Federation chairman Jim Mallen has extended his sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of a Merseyside police officer killed in the early hours of this morning.
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“He was one of the best and will always be missed”, he said.
