Father knifed to death as he celebrated birth of his daughter

Sep 28 2008 By Grace Macaskill

DOTING dad Mark Connor smiles proudly as he cradles his newborn daughter in his arms.

But just three days later he was dead ...another needless victim of Scotland's knife culture.

Mark, who was just 27, will never see little Katie Louise grow up after he was stabbed during a night out to celebrate her arrival.

And partner Caroline Foster, 27, faces bringing up the four-month-old tot alone.

She gave this treasured picture to the Sunday Mail to highlight the human toll behind spiralling knife crime.

Caroline, of Inverness, said: "Mark was so proud to be Katie Louise's dad.

"In some ways she has helped us deal with the pain of losing him but when she laughs or does something funny I am reminded he is not here to share it.

"She looks so much like her dad but she has been robbed of a father who loved her very much. I needed an operation after her birth and Mark shared precious moments alone with his daughter.

"I'm glad about that but I wish we'd had more time together with her."

Mark, of Cradlehall, Inverness, worked as an electricity linesman in Bristol and intended to return to work two days after Katie Louise's birth but could not get a flight down south.

He went out with friends to wet the baby's head but was stabbed in the early hours after an incident in the Merkinch area of Inverness.

Caroline, a former paediatric nurse at Glasgow's Yorkhill Hospital, said: "I have my good days and bad but I just have to get on and look after Katie Louise.

"Christmases and birthdays will be really hard because Mark won't be around to share them. We had such plans. I moved back to Inverness so Katie Louise's grandparents could see her grow and Mark wanted to give her everything he could."

Mark is one of the latest victims of Scotland's knife crimewave.

Last year hospitals treated nearly 12,000 stab victims and it is estimated at least 15,000 knife crimes are committed in Scotland every year.

Research shows almost 7000 young Scots now routinely carry a knife.

Mark's mum Marion Mackintosh, 47, told how her son was overjoyed to become a father.

She said: "He was so excited and wanted to make sure his daughter wanted for nothing "We miss him so much. I cannot describe how deep the wound is.

"A mother should never have to bury her child and I feel as though my heart has been ripped out.

"At Mark's funeral the parish priest said that our country has begun to sink into a moral abyss where many young people have no sense of right or wrong and he was right.

"We have been robbed of a son and Katie Louise of a dad who would have cherished and loved her."

A 22-year-old has been charged in connection with Mark's death.

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