Canal stabbing officer remembered

Mr Swindells' widow Carol was among those at the ceremony

A memorial to a police officer stabbed to death on a canal towpath as he made an arrest has been unveiled in the West Midlands.

Det Con Michael Swindells died in May 2004 under the motorway network near Salford Bridge, Birmingham.

Glaister Earl Butler, then 49, was convicted of his manslaughter and detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.

The memorial is on the spot where Mr Swindells fell.

It has been set-up by the Police Memorial Trust, formed by producer Michael Winner.

The ceremony was attended by Mr Swindells' widow Carol and his daughter Kelly, 22.

His daughter described him as "not just a dad, but a great dad".

'A great dad'

She said that on the day her father died, "life for mum and I changed forever".

Mr Swindells, who was originally from Manchester, had lived in Staffordshire with his family.

Mr Winner told the memorial service: "You could rewrite the dictionary and write under H for Hero, 'to act like Michael Swindells'."

Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Sir Paul Scott-Lee said Mr Swindells had known Butler was armed with a knife.

Sir Paul said: "He ran to the scene and ran along the canal towpath and eventually he caught up with the man armed with a knife.

"Michael Swindells did not think he had a knife, he knew he had a knife.

"He confronted him because it was the right thing to do and sadly he was stabbed and died."

Advertisement

Michael Swindells' daughter has paid tribute to her father