Born and bred in the West End, Mark became a copper on Teeside.

From as early as he could remember, Mark Thornton wanted to be a bobby on the beat. He had watched a lot of TV in his childhood years of the 1970s, from Starsky and Hutch to Z-Cars, Dickson of Dock Green and Sweeney. His dream job was to put on a big hat and walk around, helping people and communities.

It was his mam who saw the news article advertising a force's recruitment drive. In what seemed like only a matter of days he was part of that recruit selection and was soon told he was in: he was to become an officer of the law.

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