George and Giulietta Galli-Atkinson held the 27th Livia Award for Professionalism and Service to Justice at a ceremony at New Scotland Yard, Westminster on 12 November.
Livia was killed in Enfield in 1998 by a driver who mounted the pavement as she walked to ballet class. Impressed by the professional service offered by their investigation team, they decided to commemorate their daughter by establishing an award to highlight the work of fatal and serious collision investigators and Family Liaison Officers (FLOs), to encourage best practice.
The Livia Award for Professionalism and Service to Justice is made annually to an officer in the Met Roads and Transport Policing Command judged to have provided the most meritorious service to road death investigation, either in a specific case, or sustained through several investigations and who has provided the family of a road crash victim with outstanding commitment. The runner up receives the Livia Highly Commended Certificate, signed by the Prime Minister and by Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, former Nato Secretary General, also member of the Livia Award’s external independent panel of judges. The award is endorsed by the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.
The five candidates nominated and interviewed by the independent panel were DC Caroline Landy, DC Elliott Lazarus, PS Jody Carson, DS Nush Puvitharan, FCI Richard Clark and DC Jon Stokes.
Presenting the 2025 awards, jointly, were the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley QPM and the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox.
The message of congratulation from the Prime Minister was presented by Stephen Twigg, Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Commonwealth Association, also Chair of the Livia Award.
The 2025 winner of the Livia Award was DC Caroline Landy whose case involved a jogger who stepped on to a zebra crossing and was hit by a bus travelling at 28 mph in a 20 -mph zone. The bus driver failed to slow down as he approached the zebra, not having seen the jogger. The judge said that had he slowed down, the jogger would not have been killed. His wife had mental health issues and when her husband on whom she depended was killed, she became exceedingly traumatized. DC Landy conducted her FLO role with compassion and constant support on which the victim’s wife was so dependant that it most probably saved her life.
The 2025 Runner Up is DC Elliott Lazarus. He investigated a 3-car collision: an Uber with a passenger waiting to enter a roundabout, an Audi which collided with the rear of the Uber and pushed that vehicle on to the roundabout where it hit another vehicle. A female passenger in the Audi sustained serious injuries resulting in paralysis from the waist down and other injuries. The driver of the Audi was the passenger’s boyfriend. He stopped a passing ambulance and dumped on it the passenger and other occupants in his vehicle. He made off. As DC Lazarus investigated, he found that the driver was a Romanian criminal with an international career as a pickpocket. He had also been imprisoned in Romania for serious driving offences and he was illegally in the UK. The result of all the difficulties and complexities in this case was a guilty verdict for Causing Serious Injury by Dangerous Drving with 4yrs 6 months imprisonment and an existing deportation order activated.
Both officers received the PM’s Message of Congratulation.
All the nominated received the OCU Commander’s Commendation: the above and DS Nush Puvitharan, DC Jon Stokes, FCI Richard Clark, PS Jody Carson.
Giulietta and George Galli-Atkinson said after the awards:
"The Livia award began as a personal thank you to the Met Serious Collision Investigators assigned to Livia’s case who had been exceptionally professional and caring but we decided to build on their professional qualities to boost morale and encourage uniform best practice. We feel privileged and honoured to have been able to show case these specialists, year on year, who go that extra mile to ensure that justice is done at their level of professional responsibility. They have our respect, gratitude and support.
In commemorating Livia, the award also offers a campaigning platform that focuses on road safety issues and problems with calls on government to action strong measures, like the Graduated Driving License, to decrease the burden of road casualties amongst the 17-24 yr olds, for example, who in 2024 represented 22% of fatalities (273) and 20% of serious injuries (4,467); figures that include 1,003 young driver passengers; each a family traumatized or mourning, at heavy cost to the health of the nation. Why wouldn’t government wish to accelerate better road safety policies? "
Member of Parliament, John Slinger, a guest speaker, said:
"Road safety is a priority of mine as an MP. It's a clear example of where governmental action, through legislation and other measures, can directly and indirectly reduce road crashes. Giulietta and George Galli-Atkinson live in my constituency and have been in touch with me since I was elected MP for Rugby last July.
All road crashes are ultimately preventable. This stark reality should be held in the back of our minds as individual road users and as politicians. I'm glad that a 'Safe System' and 'Vision Zero' approach is being adopted more within the UK.
I've spoken to the Road Safety Minister many times about issues raised with me by campaigners such as Giulietta and George. The government's imminent road safety strategy will, I'm confident, include many measures that will improve road safety. We owe it to the memory of past victims, and we owe it to road users now and in the future to do more"
The UK's road safety strategy has not yet been revealed.
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