Dave spent almost 20 years serving as a Police Constable with Humberside Police. After four years, he successfully transferred to the Roads Policing Unit, where remained until leaving the force in 2016. This wide-ranging role involved dealing with offenders and casualties, hazardous materials incidents, vehicle examinations, escorts, operational surveillance and contributing to major national policing operations. Frequently deployed to incidents with limited information, Dave was responsible for managing large and complex scenes, coordinating with partner agencies, witnesses and other involved parties, ensuring incidents were handled correctly to support successful investigations.

Dave sought a change in career and relocated to rural Northumberland, where he ran a local business. Wishing to give back to the community that welcomed him, he joined Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service as a retained firefighter. Once again responding to unpredictable and challenging incidents, Dave applied his operational skills across a wide range of emergency situations.  

In July 2020, he successfully applied for specialist training in Fire Investigation. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this training was delivered in house, allowing Dave to merge his extensive investigative background from policing with his growing technical knowledge of fire behaviour. He quickly developed strong competencies and became an on-call Fire Investigator, attending complex fire scenes across Northumberland. These investigations included domestic, agricultural, industrial, vehicle and wildland fires, some involving fatalities. 

In 2023, Dave  joined Cleveland Fire Brigade as a full time Fire Investigation Technical Manager. In this role, he led the fire investigation team, coordinated continuing professional development, and developed policies and procedures aligned with national guidance from the Forensic Science Regulator. He also worked closely with Cleveland Police on complex and high-profile fire investigations. Dave has been involved in more than 150 fire investigations and has provided expert testimony in Magistrates’, Crown and Coroners’ Courts on multiple occasions.

Dave joined Hawkins in March 2026 and is an Associate based in our Leeds office.