The school is generally regarded as one of the best in the world for post-graduate study in Social Sciences, with 13 Nobel Prize winners and 28 former or present Heads of State amongst its alumni. Competition for places is very intense with courses always many times over subscribed. Indeed, on Gareth's course there were only six other distinctions in an academic body of 90.

Gareth was clearly delighted when Offbeat spoke to him about his achievement. "I cannot really believe it. In the first place, I thought I would not get accepted to the school and that the Force would not release me for the study."

But both of these worries proved to be wrong as the school accepted Gareth's application, while the Force was only too keen to approve his request for non-paid study leave, given its well-known support for the Government's policy on lifelong learning.

"I owe such a debt to the Force. The Commissioner, the Director of Personnel and Training and Personnel Wing were most understanding in facilitating my application."

Indeed, the Director of LSE, Sir Howard Davies, has called the Force "a most enlightened organisation" for letting Gareth pursue his course of study.

Gareth spent much of the course honing and developing his research abilities and is delighted to be able to bring his newly found skills back to the Service Quality Wing (SQW). His Formation Commander, Chief Superintendent David Gunton commented: "We are delighted to have Gareth posted to SQW; this illustrates that the Force continues to make optimum use of its most important resource, namely people."

About returning to the Force, Gareth said: "I thoroughly enjoyed my time in London, but was delighted to return to the welcoming arms of the Force and put some of my enhanced skills to good use for the benefit of our organisation. The Force and Hong Kong are good places to be."