Orange Order march passes church where priest was spat on
Scores of police officers kept order yesterday as an Orange Order parade passed a church where a priest was spat at during a march last year.
The officers, including mounted police and riot control specialists, were deployed to St Alphonsus’ Church in Glasgow’s Calton yesterday morning as the Orange Order parade walked past the parish for the first time since Canon Tom White was attacked last July.
he Scottish Parliament and other public bodies are being urged to use anti-stab knives in their own kitchens to help tackle Scotland’s blade culture.
Experts say Holyrood, local authorities and other public bodies could lead cultural change by compelling catering contractors to use the specially-designed knives which are “safer than wearing a police anti-stab vest”.
Kitchen knives are often used to inflict injuries and are frequently identified as murder weapons at trial. Doctors and campaigners believe a cultural shift towards the harm reduction blades could help reduce the number and extent of potentially fatal injuries inflicted. Dr John Crichton, who is chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatry in Scotland, said: “If people could start to look at knife control in the same way they look at gun control, they would see that this is a common sense measure.
“If public bodies started using these to show they are every bit as functional as conventional kitchen knives, it would send a Supporters of the Orange Order applauded as the procession reached the church, while Call It Out, which campaigns against anti-catholic bigotry, stood in silent protest. Police Scotland, which had an officer on site filming the crowds, said there were no arrests. Jeanette Findlay, of Call It Out, said: “We are bearing witness to the fact that we as a community are having to Andrew Cawley put up with anti-catholic organisations marching past our places of worship. We have had our priests assaulted and our parishioners abused.” Bradley Wallace, 24, pled guilty to assaulting Canon White last month.