Police Scotland rejects Taser calls despite plea from murdered officer’s widow

Police Scotland have rejected calls to arm all officers with Tasers – despite a plea from the widow of murdered cop Lewis Fulton.

PC Fulton was stabbed by teenage schizophrenic Philip McFadden in June 1994, after being called to assist colleagues in
Glasgow’s Gorbals.

The 28-year-old died in hospital about four hours later but Christine Fulton believes her husband would still be alive today if he been had been armed with a Taser or similar device.

But asked last night if they had any plans to train more officers, a spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Following a rise in officer assaults, we made a commitment in 2021 to increase the number of Specially Trained Officers from 500 to 2000 by March 2024.”

The force has 16,300 officers.

Christine’s call, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Lewis’ death, has been backed by the Scottish Police Federation.

Chairman David Threadgold said: “We will continue to press for an increase in Tasers.”

Yesterday, Christine repeated her call for more Taser-trained officers.

She added: “You can’t put a price on officers’ safety. Officers should expect to go home at the end of their shift, not to hospital.”

After PC Fulton’s murder, Strathclyde Police began issuing all officers with stab-proof vests, while measures such as CS gas sprays, side-handle batons and better self defence training were introduced.

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