It is a long way from patrolling Glasgow’s riverside to the lofty heights of the Met police but Sir David Blackstock McNee was a force to be reckoned with.

McNee had to deal with everything from the Iranian Embassy siege and the Brixton riots to the Buckingham Palace break-in during his time in charge of London’s famous force.

Glasgow Times: SIR DAVID McNEE - NEW CHIEF CONSTABLE OF THE CITY OF GLASGOW TAKES OVER HIS DUTIES AT POLICE H.Q. in 1971

Born in Glasgow in 1925, McNee joined the Clydesdale Bank when he left school but was called up to join the Royal Navy in 1943.

In the Second World War he was a telegraphist on HMS Empire Mace, seeing active service and being involved in the D-Day landings in Normandy.

His obituary in our sister newspaper The Herald notes: “On leaving the Navy, after the war, he joined City of Glasgow Police in 1946 and in 1951 was appointed to the marine division in Govan as detective constable.

"He rose through the ranks and was appointed assistant chief constable of Dunbartonshire Police in 1969, then becoming chief constable of City of Glasgow Police in 1971.”

Glasgow Times: THE LORD PROVOST WILLIAM GRAY WITH CHIEF CONSTABLE OF GLASGOW SIR DAVID McNEE IN THE CELLS OF THE NEW EASTERHOUSE POLICE STATION AFTER THE OPENING in 1973

In true Line of Duty style, and in a move worthy of Ted Hastings, McNee became commissioner of the Metropolitan police in 1977 and continued the investigations of Operation Countryman into corruption within the police, which had been instigated by his predecessor. The operation led to the Met getting rid of some 400 officers suspected of corruption.

When evangelist Billy Graham came to Scotland in 1955, McNee was a sergeant on duty at the crusade in Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall.

McNee was a member of St George’s Tron Church, where he often sang at services. He was knighted in 1978 and retired in 1982, becoming honorary president of the Boys’ Brigade. He died in April 2019.