Angus Leitch

Died: February 28, 2015.

Angus McPhee Leitch, who has died aged 88, was a young farmboy who rose to become head of Strathclyde CID and helped to steer Scotland's largest police force into the computer age.

Over a 32-year career that spanned cases from Bible John and the killings of two police colleagues to council corruption and the Clyde torso mystery, he also served in the Flying Squad and was in charge of the Serious Crime, Drugs and Fraud Squads and surveillance teams.

Having started out in the old City of Glasgow Police, when it became part of the Strathclyde Force he reviewed and modernised its intelligence handling arrangements and, following the Yorkshire Ripper inquiry, embraced new technology by introducing the computerised Home Office Large and Major Enquiry System (HOLMES) into Strathclyde, a development that simplified the management of large volumes of complex information - the mass of which had allowed serial killer Peter Sutcliffe to slip through the net and continue his murderous spree. It was a revolution in policing terms and an era far removed from the 1950s Glasgow in which he began his career.

Born in the Borders, in Broughton near Peebles, he was the youngest of six children to ploughman Andrew Leitch and his wife Elizabeth, and grew up on a farm at Crossmichael near Castle Douglas, where he helped out and enjoyed a country childhood.

He left school at 14 to take a job in a local garage, while still helping on the farm, and later, towards the end of the Second World War, joined the RAF. He served as ground crew in Egypt and on returning home began a job as a tanker driver whilst continuing to work on the farm, even after his father's retirement. It was a commitment that allowed his parents to remain in their farm cottage and a demonstration of his loyalty to his family and strong belief in community.

By 1954 he had decided on a career in the police and moved north to join the City of Glasgow force where, from the Craigie Street station, he covered the Gorbals beat. A hard-working young constable, within a decade he was serving as a detective constable in the Flying Squad and by the late 1960s was involved in both the Bible John investigation into the unsolved murders of three women whose killer picked them up at the city's Barrowland Ballroom and is believed to have quoted from the Bible.

He also investigated the shooting of colleagues by a former police officer, which happened in December 1969 after a bank robbery in Linwood. As the gang, led by Howard Wilson, returned to Wilson's flat in Allison Street, they were spotted by Inspector Andrew Hyslop. Although unaware of the crime they had just committed, the officer recognised Wilson as one of his former trainees, who had quit the force, and was suspicious. After calling for reinforcements he entered Wilson's flat and a bloodbath followed. Insp Hyslop was shot in the face by Wilson who also gunned down colleagues Det Constable Angus Mackenzie and Constable Edward Barnett, both of whom died. Insp Hyslop survived and was awarded the George Medal. Wilson pleaded guilty to the murders and served 33 years.

Rising through the ranks, Mr Leitch served as a detective sergeant in central and north divisions, as a detective inspector at Maryhill and then detective chief inspector in Govan where, after brief spell in Hamilton in 1975, following the creation of the new Strathclyde force, he returned as a detective superintendent.

One of the other cases he dealt with was the torso found floating at the docks on the Clyde. An arm and a leg, believed to match the trunk were also subsequently discovered, but the riddle remains. He also investigated the murder of a young dental student attacked with a knife and machete by a teenage mob in Clarkston.

He also led the major investigation into corruption in Strathclyde Regional Council in the late 1970s which led to the conviction of a number of people, including officials. And in the 1980s, at Glasgow's Charing Cross, it was members of his surveillance team who fired shots after confronting a gang of armed robbers who had been carrying out a series of commando-style raids on pubs.

He retired in November 1986 after 32 years in the police service during which he was known for his leadership, strong sense of right and wrong, justice and fairness along with a determination to stand up for the rights of individuals. A man big in stature, with a personality and dry sense of humour to match, he could often be a surprisingly shy and private individual beneath that tough exterior and family remained the most important aspect of his life.

Married since 1958 to his wife Pat, with whom he had three sons, he was great supporter of his boys as they were growing up, despite his demanding career. Away from work he and his wife had travelled the world together, on adventures to the continent where they went as far as Venice by caravan and, in retirement, to Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand but he was never happier than at a gathering of his family where he was known by his grandchildren as The Legend.

He is survived by his wife, sons Martin, David and Gary and six grandchildren.

ALISON SHAW