Footage has emerged of a group of off-duty police officers without any protective gear tackling a knife-wielding man.

The Metropolitan Police officers were having a drink at a bar in Elephant Park, south London, last July when they spotted a violent altercation happening nearby.

Two groups of men were fighting and it escalated to the point where one man was struck over the head and a dog was set on him.

A 20-year-old man, Joseph Jiminez, then repeatedly tried to attack the other man with a large knife.

The officers ran towards Jiminez, who threw the knife at them and tried to flee, but he was tackled by them and then arrested.

Jiminez, of Dalston in east London, appeared at Croydon Crown Court having pleaded guilty to affray and possession of a bladed article, Scotland Yard said.

He was sentenced to eight months at a young offenders’ institute.

Commenting on the officers’ bravery, Detective Inspector Jon Summers said they had “finished a long, hard week at work and were enjoying some well-earned downtime together” when the events unfolded.

DI Summers said they did not have any form of protective equipment on them such as batons, police radios or Pava spray (an incapacitant similar to pepper spray).

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He added: “Still they intervened, working tactically together in coordinating their approach to close off the suspect’s possible escape route, and swiftly arrested him.

“The heroism shown by these officers is nothing short of exceptional. They placed themselves at real risk of serious injury in order to prevent serious harm and to apprehend an offender.

“It is actions such as these that demonstrate the true heart and soul of the Met. They are a credit to themselves, the unit and MPS as a whole.”

Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh, lead for policing in Southwark and Lambeth, said if the team had not intervened, a member of the public may have been seriously or fatally injured.

CS Adjei-Addoh said: “On seeing the spontaneous intervention of the off-duty officers, all other protagonists fled the scene and a large-scale public disorder incident was averted.

“We are incredibly proud of them.”

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