Bridgetown Men’s Shed honours fallen police officer with memorial bench displayed in Kalamunda park memorial

A South West Men’s shed has come together to build a one-of-a-kind memorial to honour a fallen police officer. The Bridgetown Men’s Shed honoured Const. Stephen Knight by building a bench now displayed in Perth’s Kalamunda park alongside his memorial. WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch dropped in to the Men’s Shed on Monday to personally thank the members for the memorial he said was clearly made with “love and care”. Const. Knight was killed while conducting routine traffic duties in Maida Vale in 1993, after attempting to stop a vehicle travelling at high speed on Gooseberry Hill Road. The driver of the vehicle, Scott Anderson, failed to stop and drove directly at Const. Knight, who later died from his injuries. Const. Knight’s daughter Cassandra McCredden, who lives in Bridgetown, approached the shed earlier this year to have the memorial crafted. She said the shed members were super keen to create a bench sympathetic to the natural landscape of the park around Const. Knight’s memorial. Mrs McCredden said working with the Men’s Shed couldn’t have been easier, and she was incredibly grateful for the completed project and the shed in general. “I just love that it’s (the bench) sourced from South West timber made by South West men, I think that you guys should be very proud of not just this project, but all of the work that you do,” she said. “Thank you for making sure we don’t forget him.” Commissioner Blanch said it didn’t take much to convince him to make the visit to the shed after seeing the memorial bench unveiled in Kalamunda. “Sadly, it’s because of a tragedy, because Cass did lose her father, Steve, over 30 years ago,” he said. “What is very dear to anyone in this room wearing a blue uniform — or anyone that’s worn a uniform in any way, shape or form on the frontline — when you lose one of your own, it hurts forever. “We always remember those who we lose — I know you’ve got the RSL, and some of you may be service members in this very room. We never forget our mates, and that’s why we have things like this.”