Police officer stabbed to death in Britain

Plain clothes police in the UK may be routinely issued with body armour following the stabbing to death of a detective, officers said today.

The West Midlands force said it was reviewing its policy on the wearing of protective vests after Detective Constable Michael Swindells was killed yesterday as he tried to arrest a man wielding a knife.

Chief Constable Paul Scott-Lee said that Mr Swindells was not wearing a stab-proof vest when he was fatally wounded while helping colleagues catch a man who had gone on the rampage through an inner city district of Birmingham.

A 48-year-old man was arrested following the incident and remains in custody.