FIREARMS officer Phil Matthews has spoken of the moment he came face to face with an armed man in the garden of a Devizes house.

PC Matthews and four other officers from the firearms team based at police headquarters in Devizes first hoped to stop the man as he drove to Devizes from the Midlands with a two-year-old boy and guns in his car.

But the man, who had a shotgun licence, managed to get to a family address on the Marina Meadows estate before being caught.

PC Matthews, 38, who is married with three children, said: "We knew he was in the house with the boy and his own parents and we knew he was armed. In this situation our main aim is to negotiate so we can end the stand off without anyone being hurt.

"We secured the front and the back of the house then the man came out before we had the chance to make contact with him. He was at the back of the property and had a shotgun. We had our weapons drawn and told him to lay down his gun but he didn't.

"He had the gun pointed down not straight at us so we continued to speak to him and try and find out what the background to the problem was. But we had our fingers on our triggers ready for anything that might change.

"It was clear that he had health issues and it was important to stop him becoming agitated. He kept going back towards the house and then coming out again. We were talking to him all the time.

"Eventually he showed us that there was nothing in his weapon and we got him to put it on the ground and to lay down on his front away from the gun so we could cuff him."

Once the man was under control the officers were able to check that the boy and the couple were safe. PC Matthews said: "They were all fine. I don't think there had been any intention to hurt them."

The incident in September 2013 earned PC Matthews and fellow firearm officers Mark Giles, Martin Robson, James Titcombe and Sgt Dave Ibbott Chief Constable Commendations that were presented on Wednesday evening by chief Pat Geenty.

PC Matthews said: "We did what we are trained to do but it was nice to get the award and the recognition."

He said his wife Jo, who is a PCSO based in Trowbridge, worried more than he did about the dangers of his job. He said: "I worked in firearms unit in London for five years before coming to Wiltshire so there was obviously much more violent crime there.

"But even here you never know what the day is going to bring. The threat from terrorists now is also very real wherever you work."