Accountant stabbing detectives search for hitman info
Attack on Law Society's Leslie Cummings may have been linked to work
The police will tonight quiz members of the public in the Murrayfield
district of Edinburgh in an attempt to uncover further information on the
stabbing of Leslie Cummings, chief accountant at the Law Society of Scotland.
Detectives will be questioning passing pedestrians and setting up road checks
near the scene of the crime, a week after its occurrence to try and identify the
assailant, who knifed Cummings in the back, face and chest.
After initially labelling the attack as unprovoked, inquiries are now taking
place into the possibility that it was related to Cummings’ role as secretary of
the Society’s Guarantee Fund, which investigates allegations of theft by lawyers
from clients.
In the past clients have accused the body of failing to expose
irregularities.
‘One line of inquiry for the officers investigating the stabbing is to see if
there is any link between the incident and Mr Cummings’ role with the Law
Society of Scotland,’ said a Lothian and Borders Police spokesman.
Cummings was allowed to return home from Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on
Thursday and is now helping police with their inquiries. His description of the
incident has led detectives to consider the possibility that the attacker was a
hired hitman.
‘It was a traumatic event and I am now glad to be out of hospital and with my
family,’ said Cummings. ‘We are looking for some privacy at this time to help my
recovery.’