A jailed gangland torturer was a kingpin in the booming criminal trade in US Bully dogs. Thomas Fullerton was jailed for seven years last week for a frenzied knife attack.
He cut off part of a man’s ear with scissors and scrawled his name into his chest. Now we can reveal that Fullerton, who is also known as Thomas Kilgour, had branched out into the supply of Bully pups – a US breed made fashionable thanks to an association with hip-hop culture.
In a sick twist, Bully pups are often sold to buyers with part of their ears chopped off to give them a “devil dog” appearance. The 29-year-old set up Bad BoyBullyz Ltd in December 2021, offering Bully pups as well as micro exotic bulldogs, French bulldogs, chow chows and Shar Peis.
His business Facebook page says its pets are “KC Registered & Health Clear”.
Another post this month urged people to support his business, saying: “Follow us on our journey, keep up to date with the progress of our fur babies. This is a tough game to be in and we are aiming to be one of the best!!
“In it for the long haul and we hope you will show us love and support along the way.”
Fullerton was remanded in custody in March after pleading guilty to the attack on friend Liam Day. But the breeding page has been updated regularly and sources say others are keeping the business going while he is inside.
One added: “Tam is serious about doing this as a career and luckily for him his friends and family are willing to help him out and keep it going while he’s in jail. He has been hit with a hefty sentence over the attack but he is hoping it all runs as smoothly as it can and that he can help properly with it once he’s released.”
The High Court in Glasgow heard Fullerton left Liam in a pool of blood when he tried to murder him at his home in the city’s Drumchapel after taking Valium. Police were alerted to the disturbance by worried neighbours and, when officers arrived, Fullerton asked: “Is he dead? At least tell me if he is dead.”
Liam, who was lying unconscious, survived the horrific ordeal but remains badly affected by the attack. He suffered wounds to his head, neck, chest and back, and a severed piece of his ear was found lying on the hallway floor near a pair of bloodstained scissors.
A bloodied knife and broken vodka bottle were found in a laundry basket and Fullerton stated at the scene: “He is dead, isn’t he? He has been stabbed in the neck.”
It took medics an hour to stabilise Liam before they could take him to hospital. He also suffered a bleed on the brain, fractures to the jaw, nose and ribs, bruising and “multiple abrasions to the skin of his chest in the shape of the letters ‘TAM’”.
As well as being scarred for life, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffers from fear and anxiety about leaving his home. He has no memory of the attack, which left him needing a plate and screws in his jaw to repair the damage caused by the assault on April 30 last year.
On Wednesday, Fullerton returned to the High Court having pled guilty in March to attempted murder. Jailing him for seven-and-a-half years, Lord Matthews said the prison term would have been 10 years but for the guilty plea.
The judge told Fullerton: “It is clear that, whatever precipitated it, the violence was out of all proportion from what had gone before.”
Fullerton is also a convicted racist who lost the plot when an Asian shopkeeper refused to sell him Buckfast and attacked a barman in another drunken incident. The worker asked Fullerton, who was 23 at the time, for identification due to the store’s under-25 policy.
Fullerton left the store in Glenkirk Drive, Drumchapel, after being challenged on May 9, 2015. But he returned 15 minutes later and tried to buy alcohol again.
He was again asked for identification and took offence at the request, becoming aggressive and mimicking the man’s accent. While the worker tried to calm him down, Fullerton put on an Asian accent and began to mock him, saying: “Don’t under-25 me. Is it because I am white?”.
He was asked to leave and was told the police were being contacted. In a separate incident, he attacked a worker at Firewater in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street on Hogmanay.
The city’s sheriff court heard he punched the man on the head after he was refused more booze because he was so drunk. He then behaved in an aggressive manner towards police.
When sentenced for the incidents in 2017, Fullerton was told he was “treading on rather thin ice” on whether or not he should be sent to jail. But he was spared prison and was placed under supervision for two years as an alternative to a custodial sentence.
The court heard his supervision included a conduct requirement for him to get help with his alcohol issues. He was also told to complete 290 hours of unpaid work for the two offences.
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