Police widow to be appointed MBE

Mrs Fulton said she was 'stunned' to be receiving the MBE

The widow of a police officer murdered in the line of duty is among those named in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Christine Fulton has been appointed an MBE for co-founding the Care of Police Survivors (Cops) group.

Her husband Pc Lewis Fulton died after being knifed as he responded to an emergency call in Glasgow in 1994.

The charity helps the relatives of police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. It currently supports around 250 families.

Mrs Fulton, of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, said she was "stunned" to be receiving the MBE.

She added: "I didn't think things like that happened to ordinary people like me.

"I was convinced it was some sort of prank."

Mrs Fulton said it took her years to come to terms with the loss of her husband - and setting up Cops was a way to help others in a similar position grieve.

Pc Lewis Fulton was killed on duty in June 1994

She said: "It's about having someone to talk to that understands what you are going through."

She described herself as being "just numb" for the first couple of years after her husband's death.

"Perhaps if I had somebody to talk to who I feel would have understood, that would have made a difference."

Mrs Fulton got the idea for Cops after attending a conference in the United States of a support group for bereaved families of police officers.

She co-founded the group with former Strathclyde Police detective Jim McNulty.

Mr McNulty died of leukaemia in 2004, aged 54, and Mrs Fulton said she hoped the honour would help keep his memory alive.

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