Calls have been made for two Lanarkshire policemen killed while serving to be recognised for their bravery at Parliament.
Police Constable George Taylor was murdered in 1976, while Detective Sergeant Ross Hunt was killed seven years later. Despite efforts from both families, neither have been recognised by the UK Government - with the most recent attempts denied in December 2021.
Now, the debate has resurfaced led by Wendy Chamberlain, MP for North East Fife. Angela Crawley, Lanark and Hamilton East MP, commented: “I am thankful to Wendy Chamberlain for bringing forward this debate and for including the cases from my constituency of PC George Taylor and DS Ross Hunt.
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“The cases of PC Taylor and DS Hunt are both horrific and tragic yet these men, who put their lives on the line to protect the public, have not been recognised.
“While the families’ grief will never subside, official recognition would go some way towards acknowledging their bravery and remembering their sacrifices.”
This comes after a campaign from the Lanarkshire Police Historical Society (LPHS) and the families of the men, who requested that Wendy Chamberlain raise the issue in Parliament. The LPHS have been pushing for both to be honoured for over three years.
Both men lost their lives fighting for justice, with PC George Taylor killed whilst battling to stop the escape of two patients at the State Hospital Carstairs.
Robert Francis Mone, one of the escapees, was sent to Carstairs after the events that unfolded in November 1967. Having been absent without leaving from his army unit, Robert had reportedly been drinking for days.
He entered a girls’ needlework class at St John's Academy, and held the class captive along with their pregnant teacher Nanette Hanson. While police pleaded with him to let the girls go free, he shot Hanson in the back.
She later died in hospital, and he was found to be insane. In Carstairs, he met Thomas McCulloch who had killed someone in a restaurant over a dispute.
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In the State Hospital, the two planned an escape for around six months whilst assembling a rope ladder, weapons, fake ID and cash. On November 30, 1976, they killed fellow patient Ian Simpson and nursing officer Neil McLellan before climbing a barbed wire fence.
They were met with PC George Taylor who they attacked with axes and knives . Both escapees were then caught and imprisoned for life.
George left behind four children - David, Stephen, Paul and Michelle as well as his wife Sally. For the last 46 years, the family have been pushing for him to obtain an award.
David Taylor, who was just eight when his father died, spoke to the Daily Record last year. He told them: “It is an absolute disgrace that my father’s bravery and heroism has not been recognised after almost 47 years.
“It just makes you angry. My father should have been remembered.”
The same is true of the family of DS Ross Hunt, who have also been calling for him to be honoured posthumously since his death in 1983.
On June 5 that year, DS Hunt along with three officers tried to arrest 16-year-old Hugh Murray Junior, who was suspected of stabbing two men. All four detectives were attacked by members of the Murray family outside their Larkhall home, with weapons including a wooden pole, axe and hatchet.
Hugh stabbed DS Hunt in the chest and stomach with a knife, and he was rushed to the nearby Law Hospital but never regained consciousness and died.
Hunt left behind his wife three sons - Adrian, Ross and Philip. He had been due to retire in nine months.
Sadly these are just two officers to have lost their lives while in duty. Others include the two officers who, in 1969, attempted to stop the Linwood bank robbery and were fatally wounded.
DC Angus MacKenzie and PC Edward Barnett both lost their lives hoping to stop the gang of robbers, and were both awarded the George Medal for their bravery.
Hopefully, the families of both PC George Taylor and DS Ross Hunt will get the recognition they have fought to get for their fathers for several decades.
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