Hitman may have targeted top legal official, say police

DETECTIVES believe a hitman may have carried out a "cold and calculating" knife attack on a senior law official who was stabbed more than a dozen times outside his home.

Police last night said the assault on Leslie Cumming appeared to have been carefully planned rather than frenzied, revealing that his assailant "walked calmly" away from the 62-year-old after knifing him in the back, face and chest.

They said aspects of the assault, in Edinburgh's affluent Murrayfield district, suggested the attacker may have been a hired hitman.

Senior officials at the Law Society of Scotland are now convinced the attack was connected to Mr Cumming's work as the body's chief accountant.

He was attacked as he returned from work around 5:10pm on Monday. His assailant, who was wearing a balaclava and dark clothes, is thought to have been waiting behind a tree for Mr Cumming to arrive, before plunging a knife into his back as he locked his garage door.

The victim had driven home in his Jaguar car and was about to make the short walk from the garage, which is at the end of a secluded lane, to his back door when the knifeman struck.

Mr Cumming struggled with his attacker and managed to stagger to his door where his shocked wife, Mary, found him slumped against the wall, covered in blood.

Mr Cumming, who on Thursday was able to leave Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he was being treated, told police his assailant calmly walked down the lane after the attack.

Around 8am that day, two schoolgirls saw a man fitting the attacker's description acting suspiciously in the lane. Search teams have scoured the area for clues, but the weapon has not been found.

Detective Inspector Keith Hardie, who is leading the hunt for the knifeman, said: "Mr Cumming has told us the attacker walked calmly down the lane after the assault. Nothing was said. It was a cold and calculated attack and afterwards he just walked down the lane.

"It was serious and vicious but also cold and calculating."

He added: "His evidence has raised the possibility that the attacker was a hitman. That is something we are strongly considering."

DI Harris also revealed that two witnesses have come forward to say they saw a man run down a street adjoining the lane around the time of the assault.

He said: "We have identified a couple of other potential witnesses to a male who was seen running down Ormidale Terrace around the time of the attack.

"That is significant. Hopefully it is the same person who carried out the attack."

Detectives have already interviewed Mr Cumming in hospital and plan to question him further over the next few days. They will be asking him to identify people who may have had a grudge against him as a result of his work.

Police are drawing up a list of lawyers and clients whom Mr Cumming has come into contact with in his role as secretary of the Law Society's Guarantee Fund. The fund investigates allegations of theft by lawyers from clients and provides advice in money laundering cases.

The society's inspection team carries out bi-annual checks of the accounts of Scotland's 1,275 law firms to look for discrepancies, but aggrieved clients have accused the body of failing to expose irregularities.

A legal source said: "We are sure the attack is connected with his work. Everyone in the Law Society is devastated but we cannot see any explanation."

Senior figures in the Law Society and the Faculty of Advocates feel some of the websites set up by clients aggrieved by the legal service are tantamount to calls for violence.

Last year the Scottish Court Service (SCS) moved to shut a website dedicated to exposing corrupt Scottish lawyers.

Cathy Jamieson, justice minister, said the site, operated by lobby group Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers (SACL), was "potentially defamatory", and that SCS officials had contacted the website's internet service provider.

SACL, which claims to have hundreds of members, has run a vocal campaign demanding the Law Society be banned from investigating complaints against solicitors.

Yesterday, the police inquiry team quashed reports that a housebreaker was operating in the Murrayfield area, adding there was "no evidence" to support the claim.

Officers will on Monday increase their presence in Murrayfield, putting up posters and handing out leaflets in the hope that residents who they have not yet spoken to come forward with information.

Mrs Cumming yesterday refused to comment other than to say the family was recovering from the shock of the attack.

She added: "Well, to say it's a shock is an understatement. I'm very shaken."