The grieving family of stabbing victim Godfrey Swaby have spoken for the first time to dismiss allegations he was a member of the notorious drug-running Yardie gang in Jamaica.

His widow and aunt told the Telegraph & Argus they had been "torn to pieces" by the malicious rumours and by his violent and unexpected murder.

Mr Swaby was stabbed to death in Bradford's Lumb Lane in February.

His widow, Elizabeth, 40, who lives on the Canterbury estate in Little Horton, said last night: "They're saying he was a Yardie and that hurts. He was never a Yardie, he was a detective when he lived in Jamaica.

"He was a loving, tender and caring husband, he would give to others and go without himself."

His family in Bradford and the West Indies have rallied around to make sure the 49-year-old former policeman, described as "a loving and beloved person" is laid to rest in native Jamaica.

Mr Swaby, 49, who worked at the Royal Mail sorting office in Bramley, had only been living in Bradford for 18 months when he was found stabbed to death.

His aunt Anita Foster, of Lidget Green, said: "He was not an aggressive person, he was very kind hearted and lovely. He was very beloved in Bradford although he had only been here a few months, and he was very beloved in Jamaica.

"He was a regular churchgoer - he came to church with me on the Sunday night before he died. That's my nephew, that's the way we were brought up."

Mr Swaby, who has a teenage daughter in Kingston, originally came to Bradford to visit Mrs Foster who was poorly at the time.

While in the city, he met and fell in love with Elizabeth and they married at Bradford Register Office in late 1996. They always planned to go home to Jamaica.

"He didn't want to stay here in Bradford and we are trying very hard to give him his wish now," Mrs Foster said.

"There will be a church service in Bradford for all the friends he made over here and the body will be flown from Heathrow to Jamaica where he will be laid to rest. It has been very long drawn out and a very distressing situation. It has blown our lives apart - we have been torn to pieces."

Mrs Foster is making the trip to the West Indies, but Mrs Swaby says she would find it too painful: "I wouldn't be able to cope."

The funeral will take place at 1.45pm at the New Testament Church, Necropolis Road, Bradford on Friday April 24.

A 28-year-old local man has been arrested and charged with murder.

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