Man dies after being stabbed in afternoon attack in busy public park

DAVID MEIKLE

the aid of the injured man before medics arrived, but he died at the scene.

Police and ambulance crews were called about 1.30pm.

Officers immediately cordoned off the area while ambulance workers desperately tried to save the man who was lying injured in the middle of the football pitches.

Forensic officers began carrying out a detailed search of the scene.

Local woman Ellen Malone, 79, was in the park at the time. She said: “I have never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve lived in Strathaven.

“The park was quite busy and the next thing all hell seemed to break loose over at the other side, with a lot of shouting.

“Then I heard somebody had been stabbed. The police seemed to arrive very quickly, with the ambulance.

“It was very scary to see and some of the children were obviously terrified because of all the sirens.

“It didn’t take long for the paths to be blocked off and for the boats and things to be shut down early for the night.

“It’s the last thing you expect to see on a day to the park in a place like Strathaven.”

Avondale and Stonehouse councillor Margaret Cooper expressed her sympathies for the family of the man.

She said: “It’s a really uncommon incident for Strathaven Park and it will shock a lot of people locally.

“It’s a well-used park that people will travel from all over to go to. A lot of families with young children and dog walkers and community groups like ramblers use the park every day.

“My thoughts are with the man’s family.”

The park had been busy over lunchtime with children playing nearby on bouncy castles and the boating pond.

A police spokeswoman said: “A post mortem examination will be held to establish the exact cause of death, which police are treating as suspicious.”

Sir David Frost with his son Miles, who had HCM.