South African Diederik Coetzee (48) is known as the UK's Super Cop or Robocop for having made the most arrests in the UK. He arrested 309 criminals in 10 months in the county of Nottinghamshire.
Diederik is the son of the former sports journalist Pieter Coetzee and brother of the actor Deon Coetzee. After completing his education at Hoërskool Fakkel, he joined the police in Mondeor. He later transferred to the dog unit where he spent 20 years working in Johannesburg. Diederik moved to the UK eight years ago, having left the police with the rank of captain. He married his British wife, Margaret Duncan, in Mansfield 20 years ago. The couple have two daughters Lauren (18) and Rachel (16). When he first arrived in the UK, he offered spinning classes for two years, before joining the Nottinghamshire Police. In his five years there, PC Coetzee has arrested 1 250 criminals. Eleven arrests is the most Diederik has made in one day. He now wants to transfer to the Nottinghamshire dog squad.
The super-fit cop has been awarded three police awards recently - an Apex Award (he was the first recipient in the performance category), a Chief Constable's Commendation, and a Mayor's Commendation from the Mayor of Mansfield. Diederik has taken part in the Iron Man competition (canoeing, cycling and running) 12 times, has run the Comrades nine times and has rowed the Dusi three times.
