Colin was born in London in 1948 but spent his childhood in Scotland where he learnt to play bridge at school and subsequently at university.

He returned to London to join the Metropolitan Police where he worked for over 30 years almost exclusively as a detective in counter terrorism.

He is married to Juliana and they are approaching their 30th wedding anniversary.

Work commitments precluded much tournament bridge but he always found time for his first love, high stake rubber bridge. In 1970s he was lucky to play with many of the best players including Rixi Markus and Irvine Rose but his first international achievement was with his mentor Martin Hoffman, reaching the final of the World Pairs in Biarritz . Other international successes included St Moritz , the South Africa Championships and the Caransa in Amsterdam .

Colin has won all the major English competitions including 6 times the Lederer Invitation. He has 6 Camrose caps with three different partners each time in a winning campaign. In 2000 he was a semi-finalist in the Olympiad in Maastricht where he and Hallberg were the second best pair on the Butler Rankings behind Bocchi and Duboin. This resulted in an invitation to the prestigious Cap Gemini Tournament. The 2001 European Championship was a disappointment however he hopes to improve England 's position this year with David Price.

Whether it was because he was involved in a shoot-out with terrorists when he was a detective or because of his love of rubber bridge, the French magazine Le Bridgeur in a biography described Colin as un tueur de lapins. His other hobbies are golf and good food.