Constable John MACLEOD (31)

04 Sep 1952
City of Glasgow Police

PC MacLeod died after he was shot in Hyndland Road Glasgow as he and another officer approached a male wanted for theft of a large sum of money from a city bank. PC MacLeod was posthumously awarded the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct. He was survived by his wife and young son.

PC John Macleod City of Glasgow Police 04 September 1952

In August 1952, an 18 year old apprentice bank clerk stole £1000 from his employer, the British Linen Bank in Argyle Street, Glasgow. He ran to Dublin whilst Glasgow detectives investigated and made every attempt to trace his whereabouts.

During the investigation, it was discovered he had a girlfriend and was in the habit of meeting her in Hyndland Road Glasgow. Detectives were able to convince the parents of both the girl and the suspect to tell them, should he make contact.

The suspect didn`t stay in Dublin long and police were contacted by his mother, who had learned that he had made a date to meet his girlfriend that Thursday evening.

As a result of this information, PC John Macleod and PC Thomas McDonald were in Hyndland Road about 8pm in plain clothes, looking for the suspect.

At that time they spotted a young male, answering the description, near to a tram stop and began to approach him. As they did so, the male produced a revolver from his pocket and fired a number of shots at the officers before walking away.

PC Macleod was hit in the abdomen and collapsed almost immediately, PC McDonald received wounds to his arm and abdomen but remained conscious. He tried to pursue his assailant but was too badly injured, a bullet having damaged his kidney.

At that point, uniformed PC Charles Hill took up the chase. He had been nearby and ran to aid his colleagues when he heard gunfire. Spotting the approaching officer, the gunman ran off into an alley and tried to conceal himself in a garden, only 200 yards from the scene of the original shooting.

A number of residents of the street were out and about at the time of the incident. Some came to assistance of the wounded officers, telephoned `999` for assistance and even tried to keep tabs on where the gunman had run. One young boy, sitting on his garden wall had a narrow escape when he was almost struck by a stray bullet fired at the pursuing PC Hill.

PC Hill, in the meantime, managed to find hard cover behind a substantial garden wall and called out to the gunman to surrender. He was told to `stand away or I`ll get you` and was fired upon for his trouble. Seeking to divert attention away from local residents and to use up the gunman`s ammunition, he placed his police cap on a stick and poked it above the wall, drawing his fire.

Reinforcements soon arrived and PC Hill was able to direct them to form a cordon, some officers even managed to gain access to the roof of nearby flats so they could get a good view of the gunman`s location.

Subsequent enquiries revealed that the erstwhile clerk had met a friend earlier in the day for coffee and ice cream. He had `seemed normal` but confessed he had stolen a `cool thousand` from the bank and said he would `never be taken`.

As the officers closed in, he kept his word and shot himself dead. He was searched and found to be in possession of three revolvers, 500 rounds of ammunition and the sum of £100. Detectives also found a key and left luggage ticket from St Enoch railway station in the city. They later recovered a briefcase containing a further £900 at the station.

Both injured officers were conveyed to the Western Infirmary where PC Macleod died an hour later. PC McDonald was seriously wounded and remained in critical condition for some time. He required blood transfusions before surgery could even be contemplated to remove the bullet which was lodged near his kidney.

Constable John Macleod was buried at Aignish, traditional burial place of the Macleods of Lewis. His coffin was carried from his family home in Swordale to the cemetery, over a mile and a half distant, by a relay of mourners including Assistant Chief Constable James Robertson.

Constables McDonald and Hill were both awarded the British Empire Medal in recognition of their actions, Constable Macleod was posthumously awarded the Queen`s Commendation for Brave Conduct.

As a footnote, this incident rekindled calls for a system of compensation for the families of officers killed on duty, which had resulted from the shooting of Sergeant William Gibson in Dumfries the previous year. Although members of the Scottish Police Federation had tried to introduce such a scheme, `…the vote was not unanimous…` and the proposal had not been carried.

Constable John Macleod was in the Navy from 1939 - 1945 and joined the City of Glasgow Police in 1946. He left behind a widow and four year old child.

His name is engraved on the Scottish Police Memorial and will never be forgotten.

---