A POLICE officer who suffered head injuries while attempting to arrest suspected armed robbers has died.

Officers attempted to stop a vehicle in Stratford Last Saturday morning.

They followed the car to Ashlin Road, on the Leyton/Stratford border, where PC Gary Toms was critically injured.

Pc Toms, 37, joined the force in January 2002 and has been described as a "dedicated officer" with a "professional attitude".

Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: "It shows us all that the potential dangers officers face when doing their duty are never far away.

"To lose such a young and promising officer is the most tragic of losses for his family - my most sincere condolences to them.

"This is also a loss that the wider Met family should not, and never will, forget."

Ch Supt Bill Tillbrook, head of the Met's Specialist Firearms Command, said: "Gary was a dedicated officer who died doing the job he had trained to do.

"He was a hard working police officer who was known amongst his colleagues for his sense of humour and professional attitude."

The exact circumstances that led to Pc Toms' fatal injuries are still being investigated.

A fourth person has been charged with robbery following the incident in Dagenham.

Austin Ante-Taylor, 19, of Oak Lodge Avenue in Chigwell, is due to appear before Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court today (Saturday).

Mansour-Jacques Jallow, 26, Temitope Iyiola, 19, and Mary Fowler, 21, have been remanded in custody after being charged with robbery.

Mr Jallow and Miss Iyiola, both of no fixed address, and Miss Fowler, of Ibex House, Forest Lane, appeared at Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court on Thursday.