Policeman stabbed to death as he helps colleagues

A POLICEMAN was stabbed to death in Glasgow last night. He and a colleague were attacked in an incident in the city's Gorbals district. Both were rushed to hospital where the officer died from his injuries.

Strathclyde Police named the dead officer as 28-year-old Constable Lewis Fulton, who came from Kilmarnock and was married with a seven-month-old son. He had been in the force nine years.

The injured officer, Sergeant William Blair, who sustained stab wounds to his leg and arms, was released from the city's Victoria Infirmary after treatment. He has been in the police 15 years and is married with two sons.

Both men had been called to Norfolk Street in the Gorbals shortly before 7pm. They had been responding to a call from colleagues tackling a disturbance involving an 18-year-old man.

PC Fulton was stationed at the city's Stewart Street and went to the Gorbals from the city centre where he was on patrol. Sgt Blair went to the scene from a division based in Aitkenhead Road. After the initial call for reinforcements, up to 10 officers became involved in the Norfolk Street incident.

Police last night gave no details of the incident, but confirmed that a man was in custody and would appear in court on Monday.

Last night, Peter Mitchell, Deputy Chief Constable of Strathclyde, described PC Fulton as 'always one of the first on the scene to respond to calls for assistance from his colleagues'. The officer's family was 'grief-stricken and shocked', as was the force.

The officers were stabbed within hours of their Chief Constable, Leslie Sharp, telling a major law and order conference in London of a dramatic fall in crime in Strathclyde. He said that his force and others in Scotland were experiencing a fall in crime - in Strathclyde's case by 11 per cent last year.

Asked about the tragic irony, Mr Mitchell said: 'I don't thnk it is wise to focus too closely upon statistics because statistics only give you the level of crime - they do not give you the detail.

The last fatal stabbing incident involving an officer in Strathclyde occurred in the Larkhall area of the city in 1983.

Sir Paul Condon, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said yesterday that burglars were being encouraged by the public's 'Arthur Daley' mentality to crime. Sir Paul criticised a willingness to turn a blind eye to stolen goods and blamed a boom in car-boot sales as providing burglars with an important market for stolen goods.