A JURY yesterday found Peter Smith, 43, not guilty of stabbing to
death William Fullerton, 54, in a bar in Glasgow.
Mr Fullerton was the son of Billy Fullerton, founder of Glasgow's
notorious razor gang, the Billy Boys, of the twenties.
He was found slumped over the bonnet of a car outside the Mermaid Bar
near his home at Ruby Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Mr Smith, of Hoddam Avenue, Castlemilk,
Glasgow, was found not guilty of stabbing Mr Fullerton in the bar on
August 9 and murdering him.
He did not give evidence, and in a special defence blamed barman
Kenneth Faulds, 33, of Millerfield Road, Dalmarnock, Glasgow, for the
crime.
The court was told that staff and customers tried to cover up the fact
that the assault took place in the bar.
It was stated that police arrived quickly, but found Mr Fullerton had
already been driven to hospital by Mr Ronnie Faulds, 36, whose family
runs the Mermaid.
Staff had tried to clean up pools of blood inside the pub and stuck to
their story that the incident happened outside.
Pub cleaner Josephine Hanlon agreed with Mr Michael O'Grady,
prosecuting, that she said she had seen Mr Smith standing over the
victim stabbing him with a knife.
She insisted she had lied to police, and that she had only seen Mr
Smith punching the other man.
The dead man's son, Mr Billy Fullerton, 22, told Mr Donald Findlay,
QC, defending, he knew his grandfather had founded the Billy Boys and
thought it was an Orange flute band.
Mr Findlay said: ''That's like saying the SS were just German
tourists.''
He added : ''Apart from being a flute band, they were a pretty violent
bunch who frequented the Bridgeton area.''
Mr Fullerton denied he and his father were involved in drugs and were
after Mr Smith because he had ''welched'' on a deal after they gave him
#1000 worth of cannabis to sell for them.
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