Final salute for Officer and Gentleman 'Geoffrey George'

Torbay has said farewell to one of its most colourful, respected and much-loved characters.

Torquay's St Marychurch Parish Church was packed to the rafters with more than 300 people for the funeral service of the popular retired policeman Geoff Bates.

A police motorcycle escort led the cortege and hearse to the Our Lady, Help of Christians and St Denis Church as a mark of respect for the well-known detective who died aged 77.

Geoff - known lovingly by family and friends as 'Geoffrey George' - was admired and respected by all those whose lives he touched, even including some of the villains he helped to lock up!

He devoted 44 years of his life to the police force, the majority serving in the Bay, after joining the Devon and Cornwall force in 1969.

He was to become trusted as a police officer, esteemed in the community and loved as a husband and father.

Son Murray said: "He was a great father, an incredibly wise man and a loving husband. Perhaps his greatest achievement is just how many people’s hearts he touched.”

Murray remembers: "Living in Torquay, I would always moan when we would go out shopping because every five yards, we had to stop and talk to someone. Now I reflect upon that, I look back and realise he knew so many people because he made time for everybody.”

Geoff was awarded three Chief Constable Commendations for outstanding work in Criminal Investigation during his career. However, his most treasured commendation came in 2000, when he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Police Service.

Murray said: “It was an incredible achievement for him and he was very proud of it. For him, that was the ultimate recognition.”

Geoff was presented with the medal by the then-Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.

During this time, he was working for the Professional Standards Department, investigating the conduct of Devon and Cornwall’s police officers. Murray said: “Prince Charles asked him what he did now and Dad explained that he now worked for the Independent Police Complaints Commission. He said to Charles that he was a poacher turned gamekeeper. Charles found that very amusing.”

Murray added: "I think he joined the police because he wanted to do his bit to improve society. He was very interested in social justice. He was very much a detective and spent most of his career as a detective. He had a knack for being able to solve crimes and make arrests.

"Part of the reason for his success was his ability to build connections and relationships with people from all sorts of backgrounds. He was not just respected by his colleagues, but by those he was arresting as well.

“People from all sides of the community would be willing to talk to him because of his character. This really helped him to solve crimes because he had such a great contact book. He was a very fair man, very trustworthy.”

Geoff's social connections didn’t just run through his work. He was well known throughout the community as well as a familiar face in many of Torbay’s local pubs. “He’s had about 100 different locals,” joked Murray. “There’s even a picture of him up at the Crown and Sceptre in Torquay. He was one of those larger-than-life characters. When he turned up, people stayed on for that extra pint. He loved to tell a story and he was able to put a smile on anyone's face.”

Geoff was also a big sports lover. He managed the Torbay Police football team and later in life was the captain of Torquay Golf Club, becoming a crucial part of the team.

The Golf Club paid its own tribute and said: “He was a true gentleman and a shining light for our club. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of his adoring family at this difficult time, he will be sorely missed by many.”

Former policeman and colleague Stuart Newberry gave the Eulogy in church where  Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell represented the current Force.

Stuart told the congregation how he first met Geoff 51 years ago, when as a police officer, he stop checked him as he was walking home from a night out in Torquay. "That was the start of a friendship, where, as a police cadet with Geoff, I had an unforgettable introduction to the rough and tumble of policing back in the early 70s,'' remembered Stuart.

He added: "He was an incredible person with a charismatic personality and ability to connect with people from all walks of life. He touched the lives of so many with his humour and dedication to his work, as well as love for his family and friends."

Stuart said 'everyone here today will have a story about Batesy.

He said: "The very mention of his name brings a smile to faces. I’ve been inundated with stories, like the one where he disturbed two burglars who ran off when challenged. Quick as a flash, he pretended he had a police dog that he was going to set loose on them. He even instructed his colleague, Chris Relph to start barking! At which point the two men froze and were arrested. Believe me, there are many other stories! And Geoff had a photographic memory, with a sharp wit and encyclopedic knowledge of stuff."

He described Geoff as a 'gregarious character, a great storyteller, a natural skill honed over many years, with impeccable timing, doing what he loved – having fun and making people laugh'.

"He made a lasting impact on those he mentored and worked alongside and many went on to have successful careers themselves," said Stuart.

"Beyond the job and behind the character, Geoff was so much more. His innate ability to connect and communicate are well known. But his kindness towards those less fortunate were a glimpse into this warm-hearted man who really cared about people.  In a letter he left for the family, he said: 'I hope I instilled in my kids a sense of fair play and respect for their fellow man.'

Geoff leaves a legacy of kindness, fun and friendship, and passion for fairness. This was something he held dear and perhaps the sentiment of ‘fair play and respect for our fellow man’ is a message from Geoff to us all."

Neil Stanlake, another colleague of Geoff for many years in the Bay and who helped carry his coffin, said: "Geoffrey George was a true legend and I don't use that word very much. He was respected by all his colleagues and even some of the villains he locked up."

One of Neil's favourite stories involving Geoff was when they spotted shoplifters trying to steal goods from a local store.  Geoff grabbed a banana and held it to the back of one of the thieves shouting 'armed police'. The thief - who was quick to give himself up - later told the judge in court that he thought using a weapon to catch shoplifters was a bit over the top!

Originally from southeast London, Geoff joined the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in 1969, serving as a Police Constable in Torquay and Paignton before becoming a Detective Constable in Torquay in 1973.

His talent for policing was soon recognised, and he moved up the ranks quickly. In 1976, he was seconded as Detective Constable to the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch at New Scotland Yard. In 1981 he was promoted to Police Sergeant in Paignton, and Detective Sergeant the following year, serving in Totnes, Paignton, Torquay, Ashburton and Exeter.

In 1999, Geoff became an Investigator in the Professional Standards Department of Devon and Cornwall Police, before retiring from the role in 2013.

Geoff leaves behind wife Angela and children Sean, Laura and Murray, his grandchildren as well as countless friends and former colleagues.