A CORONER yesterday paid tribute to the bravery of a Scots policeman
who was stabbed to death while trying to arrest a man who had stolen a
handbag in London's West End.
Dr David Paul said Detective Constable Jim Morrison ''behaved in quite
the highest possible standards expected of all our police officers''.
Mr Morrison, 27, from Dumbarton, was stabbed through the heart after
cornering the thief near Aldwych Theatre on December 13, 1991.
He had been due to meet his wife, Vicky, when he spotted three
suspected handbag thieves in Covent Garden's Piazza and gave chase.
No relatives were present for the inquest. At the opening on December
17, 1991, his father, Mr Alexander Morrison, of Bonhill Road, Dumbarton,
gave evidence of identification. Detective Constable Morrison was buried
in Harris.
Detective Inspector George Raison, from the Flying Squad, said
witnesses who saw the chase pieced together Mr Morrison's final minutes.
A Transport Museum steward saw the suspect hold a knife to the
officer's throat before running off. Mr Morrison pursued him.
Other witnesses saw the suspect turn four or five times to threaten
him with a knife. They were seen running to the Waldorf Hotel and then
across to Montreal Place, where the stabbing occurred.
A post-mortem examination showed that the officer had sustained a 3in
deep wound which penetrated his heart sac.
A second wound had been inflicted to the side of his chest and a third
to his left forearm, which he probably sustained while trying to defend
himself.
Dr Paul, who directed the jury to return a verdict of unlawful
killing, said: ''This was a dedicated police officer. A gallant young
man who, despite the fact he was off duty, became involved in what was a
petty offence.''
Although he knew the man was armed, Mr Morrison had pursued the man.
No arrest has been made, and police inquiries are continuing.
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