'Howard the hypocrite'

The father of a policeman killed by an illegal immigrant today branded Michael Howard a hypocrite.

Pc Phillip Walters died in the line of duty 10 years ago when he was shot by Yardie gunman Ray Lee.

His father Colin Walters hit out at the Tory leader for using a similar case - that of Detective Constable Stephen Oake - as a political weapon to condemn the state of the immigration and asylum system under Labour.

Mr Walters said Mr Howard was home secretary at the time of his son's death and did nothing then to take up the case. He said: "I am appalled by the cynical way Michael Howard is using the death of a police officer by an illegal immigrant as a political and electoral ploy.

"Ten years ago my son was also murdered by an illegal immigrant he was trying to arrest. But there was no public outcry from Mr Howard then.

"At the time he was home secretary, responsible for the safety of police officers and the control of illegal immigrants, so any blame then was his."

His comments came after the Tory leader was criticised by a TV audience for his hardline stance on immigration. Mr Howard was accused of "inciting xenophobia and hatred in our country" during ITV's Ask The Leaders debate.

And in the first signs of Tory disquiet over their campaign strategy, it also emerged today that a group of frontbenchers, including members of the shadow cabinet, have pleaded with Mr Howard to tone down his harsh rhetoric on asylum and immigration.

As a succession of polls showed Labour extending its lead, senior colleagues urged Mr Howard not to turn the Tories into a "single-issue party". Writing in the Standard today, former foreign secretary Robin Cook joined the attack on the Tory leader.

He contrasted the dignity of Dc Oake's widow, refusing to be drawn into the political debate, with Mr Howard's attempt to capitalise on the murder by Algerian Kamel Bourgass who was also found guilty of a terror plot involving the poison ricin.

Mr Walters said the case of Dc Oake had strong similarities to the death of his own son. Condemning Mr Howard's intervention, he said: "It is disgusting. Obviously the man has a short memory to make a political issue out of the grief that Dc Oake's family must be suffering. That sort of intrusion... by a politician for electoral gain beggars belief. It is gross hypocrisy."

Mr Walters also criticised Mr Howard for his behaviour after his son's death, as unlike Tony Blair, who wrote him a personal letter of condolence, Mr Howard merely signed a standard typed letter and failed to make contact with Mr Walters at the funeral. Pc Walters was 28 - with only 18 months in the Met - when he was shot in the chest at point-blank range by Lee, a Yardie who used three aliases. Police are still not certain who he really is.

Pc Walters and a colleague had been called to a disturbance at a flat in Ilford. Initial reports suggested it was a domestic incident. But when they got there they discovered Lee and two other men who had been hired to beat up and rob one of the occupants.

Pc Walters was shot after a struggle while his colleague was wounded in the knee and hand. But Lee was cleared of murder and given 10 years for manslaughter and another eight for firearms offences.

The case has many similarities to that of Dc Oake, stabbed to death by Bourgass. Both officers were killed as they tried to make an arrest in circumstances where the true danger was not apparent until too late. Both killers were in this country illegally and had several bogus IDs.

"I cannot see the difference between what happened to Phillip and what happened to Dc Oake - except now Michael Howard is spouting off that Dc Oake's murder should never have happened," said Mr Walters.

Mr Walters accuses Mr Howard of effectively ignoring his son's case while in power. The day after Pc Walters's death he received a typed letter expressing condolences with five words - "I am so very sorry" - scribbled by Mr Howard at the end.

Mr Walters said: "He showed little regard... by sending me a letter of condolence written by someone else which he had signed."

In contrast, Mr Blair, then leader of the Opposition, sent a handwritten note that read: "This is simply to say how much I sympathise for you over Phillip's tragic death. It must have been an appalling shock for you. But his bravery and sacrifice have touched the whole country and I know, amidst the grief, there will be deep and deserving pride." Mr Walters said Mr Howard also failed to show proper respect at the funeral. "He attended my son's funeral unshaven and in a crumpled suit, failed to make any contact with me or my family and when I wrote to him about my son's killer's derisory sentence he never had the decency to acknowledge the letter, let alone reply to it. So shame on him then and shame on him now."

Mr Walters, 60, lives near where his son was shot in Empress Avenue. Yesterday, as he does every year, he laid flowers at the memorial that bears the words: "Near here fell Pc Phillip Walters. 18th April 1995." There were six bunches in all. A single red rose was placed there by Mr Walters's daughter Laura on behalf of Helen Rossiter, the dead policeman's girlfriend.

Pc Walters had joined the Met after working as an air steward. He was awarded the prestigious Baton of Honour as the outstanding student of his class of 1993.

Mr Walters, a taxi driver, recalls the day his son died. He had come home with his wife Jean to find a helicopter overhead and his children talking of rumours that a policeman had been shot.

He went to the scene but was told nothing and instead hurried to the local police station, where he was informed his son had been shot but his chances of survival were good.

Mr Walters, who will vote Labour on 5 May, has difficulty holding back the tears at the memory of his son. "You get this sense of frustration. You feel inadequate," he said, "You are supposed to protect your children. That's what parents are supposed to do."