WIDOW’S ANGUISH
26 YEARS ON STABBING HORROR BROUGHT BACK TERRIBLE MEMORIES TO WIFE OF MURDERED POLICE OFFICER Protective equipment saved life of brave constable
The widow of a policeman whose death prompted the force to introduce body armour says the equipment saved the life of Park Inn stab victim PC David Whyte.
Christine Fulton’s husband Lewis, 28, was fatally stabbed in 1994 after he responded to an emergency call and was attacked by a knife-wielding suspect.
She claims pol ice were only “trialling” body armour at the time and that greater protection would “undoubtedly” have saved him. Lewis was only wear ing his standard- issue uniform when he was killed by schizophrenic Philip McFadden.
Five years af ter the death in Glasgow’s Gorbals, body armour was introduced and is now built into uniforms to protect officers’ vital organs. Christine said she had been told the equipment helped save PC Whyte’s life after he was stabbed during a terrifying incident at the Park Inn in Glasgow’s West George Street on Friday afternoon.
PC Whyte, who is married with two children, suffered serious injuries to his neck, abdomen and leg after he tried to stop the knifeman with his Taser.
The 42-year- old officer, who has 13 years’ service, rushed into the hotel with a colleague after 999 cal ls reported a man was at tack ing people indiscriminately.
Pol ice said six men, including the hero officer, are receiving treatment in hospital. The suspect died after being shot by police.
Christine, 60, of Kilmarnock, yesterday revealed she would like to meet PC Whyte and his family.
She also told how she relived her personal nightmare as details of Friday’s horror emerged.
The mum said: “I was devastated. I real ly feared the worst. One of Lewis’s colleagues notified me at 2pm and I turned on the television.
“It was my worst nightmare. It brought everything back.
“I understand from what others are saying that it
was PC Whyte’s body armour that saved him – the body armour brought in because of Lewis’s death.
“At the time, the force were only trialling body armour. Lewis wasn’t wearing anything, just his normal uniform of a shirt and jumper.
“I bel ieve if he had been wearing body armour it would undoubtedly have helped protect him and saved his life. The equipment that was being trialled at that time only had a front and back. It didn’t have sides but now protection is built in to clothes to protect all vital organs.
“After his death, they started researching better equipment. Today, officers wear body armour as standard.
“I would love to meet Mr Whyte. I’d like to speak to someone who Lewis’s life has changed and saved.”
In the hours after the attack, Police Scotland described PC Whyte’s condition as “critical but stable” and Christine says those words took her back to the ordeal of Lewis’s death.
She said: “They kept saying, ‘Critical but stable.’ That’s what they said about Lewis. When I heard those words, I could see myself sitting in that police car with Mrs Whyte. I could see me going to hospital with her and sitting in a little side room waiting to hear if he had come out of surgery.
“It was awful. I was in some state on Friday. I hope his recovery is speedy and full.”
Christine, who runs the charity Care of Police survivors, says the force family has pulled together in the aftermath of the attack.
She added: “PC Whyte is quite rightly being called a hero.
“As they say, people run away from danger but the police run towards it. That’s their job.
“They know when they join the force they’ll get assaulted, they’ll be spat at and will be called every vile name under the sun. But I don’t think many really think they could be killed.
“This was just a normal Friday afternoon. The city was quiet due to lockdown. Shops, restaurants and bars are still closed. It just goes to show that for the police there is no such thing as a routine call.
“The police family have pulled together. This is what we do – we peer support.”
Police said last night that PC Whyte was in a stable condition at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).
The five other victims – three asylum seekers who were staying at the hotel and two members of staff – remain in hospital. Their ages are 17, 18, 30, 38 and 53. One is critical but stable and two are stable at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Two others are in stable conditions at the QEUH.
In 2003, a fatal accident inquiry said “substantial changes” had been made “in respect of the routine provision of body armour and CS incapacitant spray” following Lewis’s death.
It ruled the “availability of such equipment would have materially reduced the risk of injury to officers” in the incident that led to Lewis’s death.
McFadden was 18 when he killed Lewis. He was reported to have been suffering paranoid delusions and had threatened his family with a knife.
He was remanded to the State Hospital at Carstairs, Lanarkshire, after doctors said he was mentally ill and unfit to go in the dock. A trial six years later ruled McFadden was insane and not responsible for his actions.
I’d like to speak to someone who Lewis’s life has saved