Crowbar plunged several inches into officer's chest; STABBING: Owners of newsagents praise officer's bravery and offer support to relatives at his bedside.

SNIFFER dogs and forensic experts were combing a Bedworth street for clues yesterday to catch a gang who brutally stabbed a police officer - for a stash of cigarettes.

PC Peter Doherty is a former Army man who served in the Gulf, and has also worked as a paramedic, fulfilled a longheld ambition when he joined Warwickshire Police last year.

Yesterday, senior police officers paid tribute to his "courageous" actions and condemned his attackers.

Det Supt Ken Lawrence said the crowbar had gone several inches into the officer's chest, and could easily have been fatal. The weapon was plunged into PC Doherty's unprotected left side just below his stab-proof vest, narrowly missing his heart and causing serious internal injuries.

Mr Lawrence said the actions of PC Doherty's attacker were "cowardly".

He said: "The injury is so severe it goes beyond the bounds of what is in anyone's eyes reasonable. To use a weapon of that kind to me is very sinister and very cruel under the circumstances."

It was too early to say whether PC Doherty will have any permanent or long term effects from his injury, he added. He remains in a critical condition at George Eliot Hospital surrounded by his girlfriend and close family members.

CAPTION(S):

COWARDLY ATTACK... Det Supt Ken Lawrence.' CLUES... A police handler with a sniffer dog outside the newsagents where the attack on PC Peter Doherty happened.