The last memory David Taylor has of his policeman dad George is a kiss on the cheek and a cheery wave goodbye as he went off to work 46 years ago. Less than an hour later, PC Taylor lay dying after a frenzied attack by two of Scotland’s most notorious killers – Robert Mone and Thomas McCulloch – who had escaped from incarceration at the nearby State Hospital in Carstairs.
Now David, who was just eight years old when his dad died, is speaking for the first time about the brutal murder, his family’s fury after McCulloch was set free and their new fight to get his father a posthumous bravery medal. David said he died a hero, saving a busload of passengers on November 30, 1976, when Mone, 27, and McCulloch, 26, broke out of the hospital after murdering a nurse and another inmate.
But he has received no recognition for his selflessness and bravery, while three officers who eventually arrested the pair in England after their murderous spree were given the Queen’s Gallantry Medal. Sales manager David said: “It is an absolute disgrace that my father’s bravery and heroism has not been recognised after almost 46 years.”
The triple murder stunned all of Scotland and the horror of what happened to the young officer and dad of four beyond shocking. David said his dad and colleague PC John Gillies were ambushed by the killers on the outskirts of Carstairs, near a car, after they flagged down the police van.
The pair who had already slaughtered nurse Neil McLellan, 46, and inmate, Iain Simpson, 40, attacked the officers with axes and knives. David, 54, said: “I can remember every part of that night as if it was yesterday.
“My mum had bought dad a new pair of fur-lined boots which he wore for the first time. I then watched his police van drive to the end of the road and turn right. It was the last time that I saw him.
“Later that evening mum got a call to say that dad had been involved in an accident and if she could make her way to the hospital. However, by then he was already dead.
”My dad had waved down the bus not because he wanted help but because he knew the passengers were in danger and they could be next. He literally then fell on to the bus steps because of all the blood that he had lost.
“However, he was dead before he went into the ambulance. At this point no one knew, not even my dad, that two men had escaped from Carstairs.”
At the time of his murder, the family lived in Carstairs Junction, next to Carstairs village, in a police house attached to the police office.
David added: ”When my mum was at the hospital, there was a newsflash came on the television that said that there had been a breakout at Carstairs and there were three people killed including a police officer.
“At this stage we didn’t know what had happened and I recalled shouting that my dad was dead and had to be calmed by my gran. I didn’t sleep that night. That night will never leave me.
“The following morning I remember vividly my mum coming into my bedroom and telling me that my dad was dead – that he was away to heaven. And all the police and newspapers at the house later that day.”
Mone and McCulloch escaped by stealing PC Gillies’ van, which they crashed 10 miles away near Biggar. They then tried to murder two men who stopped to help, stealing their works van and leaving the men for dead.
The vehicle was then abandoned and they walked to a nearby farm, where they threatened a family, before stealing their vehicle. Police eventually spotted the pair on the A74, resulting in a car chase involving three forces – Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway and Cumbria in the north-west of England.
The escapees were eventually arrested in Cumbria, and were brought back to Scotland. After the PC’s death the family had to move out of their police house the following June and found a home in nearby Law.
David, who still lives in the village with his wife and two children, said the family never wanted for anything but said it had been tough financially growing up without their dad. Twenty years ago they visited the police station and their old home when they heard it was being turned into flats and found the original log book where the dad had signed on at 6pm in his final shift.
David added: “All the old memories came flooding back and of how he was always on duty and carried his police radio. One night a man came to our police house with a knife to say that he had stabbed his wife.
“Another time a bus driver pulled up outside the police station because there was a fight on board and my dad made an arrest and put him in the cells. Dad loved being a policeman and the local bobby.
“There wasn’t a person in the village that didn’t like him. He would have done anything for anyone.” George was also survived by sons Stephen, 52, Paul, 50, and daughter Michelle, 46.
Every year on the anniversary of his death, the Taylor family visit Daldowie Crematorium, near Glasgow, where they lay flowers at a memorial bench. They then travel to the police memorial at the Scottish Police College in Tulliallan, Fife, which carries the names of 290 officers who, like George, died on duty.
Mone and McCulloch pled guilty to the three murders at the High Court in Glasgow in 1977 and were given life sentences. Mone, now 73, is still in prison but McCulloch, 72, was freed in 2013 and is believed to live in Dundee.
David said there was anger in the family when McCulloch was paroled. He revealed how the family were not told officially in case he was subject to reprisals.
David said: “My reaction was one of absolute fear when he was released knowing what McCulloch was capable of. As a child I was always afraid that Mone and McCulloch would get out again and come and get us.”
David said that five months after the murder, chief constable of Strathclyde Police Patrick Hamill recommended PC Taylor for a bravery award to then secretary of state for Scotland, Bruce Millan – but it fell on deaf ears.
The only recognition of his courage is a plaque inside Hamilton police office, which was paid for by officers. The Taylor family believe he is entitled to honours including the George Medal and Queen’s Gallantry Medal.
David said: “It just makes you angry. My father should have been remembered.”
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Keith Brown said:“I fully support the campaign for officers who are killed in the line of duty to receive posthumous United Kingdom Bravery awards and intend to write to the UK Government about this matter.”
Constable Gillies returned to duty after the breakout and was later promoted to inspector. He has since passed away.
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