Constable Ewan MCDONALD (-)

22 Jun 1851
Dundee City Police

PC McDonald died when he was stabbed whilst dealing with a large scale disturbance in Arbroath Road Dundee. He was survived by his wife and child.

About 0215 on Sunday 22^nd June 1851 three Dundee City police officers responded to the sounds of a disturbance in the Arbroath Road, near to Prince’s Street Dundee. The area, near to the ‘Athole Brose’ public house, was inhabited mainly by weavers of Irish origin. On their arrival, the officers found a group of 20-30 men engaged in, what could only be called, a shouting match.

PC’s Ewan McDonald, Samuel Atkin and William Wright approached the men and told them to disperse. They were immediately set upon and thrown to the ground. All three were able to regain their feet and drew their police batons.

During a vicious and sustained attack the officers, ‘acting on the defensive, were sadly discomfiting their opponents’, but were overcome by sheer weight of numbers and again thrown to the ground.

This time PC Ewan McDonald didn’t get back up. PC Atkin and Wright managed to pull their colleague to his feet but he cried out to PC Wright that he had been stabbed.

At this point, three ploughmen and a mechanic from Mains of Fintry came to the officer’s assistance. The sudden reinforcement and realisation that a policeman had been stabbed caused the group to scatter in an attempt to escape.

Although badly injured himself, PC Wright spotted one of the ringleaders and managed to apprehend him as fled. He was easily identifiable due to his broken nose and various head wounds inflicted by a police baton! The whole incident had taken all of five minutes from beginning to end.

As PC McDonald was carried to the nearby ‘Athole Brose’ pub, other officers arrived and began a search for the perpetrators. Superintendent MacKay and the police surgeon, Dr Webster, were sent for but Ewan McDonald had succumbed to his injuries before anything could be done for him.

Enquiries revealed that one man in particular had been seen to attack McDonald. A full scale door to door, house by house search was instigated by Supt. MacKay with no stone left unturned.

Some hours later the culprit was found, bandaged and in bed, with similar injuries to the other prisoner. His bloody clothes were found at his sister’s house and a knife, similar to one known to be owned by him recovered near the scene.

Both accused were subsequently tried at the Perth Circuit Court where, after prosecution evidence had been led, the charge of murder was dropped. Both were convicted of assaulting the officers in the execution of their duty and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with hard labour.

PC Ewan McDonald was married with one child; his name is etched on the Scottish Police Memorial and will never be forgotten.

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