Newmarket funeral service for Fordham former policeman and intelligence chief, David Stannard, who saved Prince Charles

The funeral of a Fordham man credited with foiling a plot to assassinate Prince Charles and the future prime minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, will be held in Newmarket on Tuesday.

Former policeman, and intelligence chief, David Stannard, who was known as Dan, and had lived in Mill Lane for more than 20 years, died on March 30 at Soham Lodge care home. He was 85.

Brought up in Liverpool, Mr Stannard made his way to Africa in 1957 where he joined his older brother, Bernard, as a member of the British South Africa Police. Promoted to the rank of detective sergeant in July 1962 he then spent a couple of years in the newly formed Rhodesian Special Branch. His rise up the ranks continued and by 1974 he had been promoted to superintendent and the following year received the police long service medal.

Before his retirement as chief superintendant in 1981, Mr Stannard had been seconded to the Special Branch and later took over and served as the director internal of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) where he oversaw internal intelligence-gathering.

And it was his work with the CIO which lead to him foiling a plot to assassinate Mr Mugabe, along with a number of high ranking foreign dignitaries, including Prince Charles, who were attending Zimbabwe’s independence ceremony on April 17, 1980, by a South African fifth column, actions for which he was awarded the Gold Cross of Zimbabwe.

His citation, signed by Robert Mugabe, read: “Mr Stannard’s timely and immediate reaction to the presence of suspicious characters saw the almost ripe South African plot foiled and the country was saved from a bloody war, not to mention the human life saved.”

He retired in 1994 but continued to work as a lobbyist and security consultant. His great loves were cricket, tennis, and rugby and he was a former member of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. He returned to Britain in 2002, with his wife and family, to live in Fordham. He was sacrasant at Kirtling church for a number of years and his funeral will be at Newmarket Catholic Church at noon.