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I love you and I'm sorry: Widow of love cheat police chief reveals husband's last message
Last updated at 01:37am on 13.04.08The last words sent by the police chief Michael Todd to his widow were revealed yesterday.
Hours before he took a fatal walk on a snow-swept mountain, he wrote an email to his wife, Carolyn.
In it, he appeared to apologise for what he was about to do but insisted that he still loved her.
The email was read out by Mrs Todd at a memorial service for her husband, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, who died last month in North Wales.
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Widow: Carolyn Todd, centre, arrives at the cathedral for the service for her husband. She was accompanied by their three children Catherine, 1 and twins David and Matthew, 1.
In the days after his death, it emerged that he had a string of lovers and feared his three-and-a-half-year affair with a local businesswoman would be exposed.
Yesterday, as she stood in the pulpit at a packed memorial service, Mrs Todd, 47, said her husband sent her the email expressing his sorrow and his love for her on the evening before he died.
She told 1,000 mourners at Manchester Cathedral: "I would like to share with you just a few words my husband said to me in an email written on the Sunday evening before he died - 'I know that I love you; sounds hollow but I do and I'm sorry'"
The event, which was attended by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, was a thanksgiving for the career of the police chief.
After his death, details emerged of his tangled private life, including claims he had affairs with several women over the past five years.
Mr Todd, a father of three, had a three-year affair with Angie Robinson, 50, the chief executive of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.
He has also been linked to Julia Wortley, a police superintendent based in Hertfordshire; Anne Neild, his personal assistant at Greater Manchester Police; a woman investigative journalist; and the married spiritual poet Sheryl Sleigh.
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Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair attend the memorial service
But the congregation was told that, whatever Mr Todd's reputation in his private life, his professional reputation and qualities as a police officer should never be forgotten.
Dave Whatton, acting Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said: "I knew Michael was very, very proud of his family and loved all of you very, very much.
"One of Michael's favourite sayings was, 'I'm not a politician, I'm just a simple policeman'. He wasn't. He was nationally significant."
Mr Whatton told the mourners that of all the cards and messages of condolences he had received one phrase was most prevalent.
Michael Todd: Admitted affairs with a number of women
He said: "The most frequent comment in all those messages was, 'He was a copper's copper'."
Tony Porter, the Bishop of Sherwood, brought laughter from the congregation when he told them: "Michael's family loved him to bits but don't you worry, they knew he was no saint.
"The nearest he got to St Michael was when he bought his sandwiches from Marks and Spencer."
The Bishop of Manchester, Nigel McCulloch, described Mr Todd as "approachable and friendly, downto- earth, free from pomposity - with a concern for everyone".
As well as Miss Smith, notable figures at the service included the former Met Commissioner Lord Stevens, his successor Sir Ian Blair, and the Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.
They sat a short distance from Mr Todd's brother Stephen, his daughter Catherine, 16, and his twin sons David and Matthew, 13.
Catherine gave a touching personal tribute by singing Somewhere from West Side Story.
Representatives from the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist faiths lit candles at the end of the service, as the police band played the hymn Bread of Heaven.
The service also drew representatives from every police force and every branch of the Greater Manchester Police.
Mr Todd was buried in a private ceremony at a churchyard near his family home in Halam, Nottinghamshire, on March 21.
The circumstances of his death on March 11 are still being investigated and an inquest has been opened and adjourned.
Reader views (2)
I'm so sorry for your loss. My husband committed suicide on Valentine's Day this year. I too am finding out about all the things he was hiding for many years.
I wish men could understand that it would be much easier to just ask forgiveness and live then to take the cowardly way out.
Suicide is so much harder on the family then anything they could confess would be. My husband left six children behind, two of which will never remember him.
- Susan Davis, Texas
How very humiliating for the Police service. I always thought their senior officers were trained and disciplined to set a good example to the profession and the public.
- Robert El-Cid., Hull, East Yorks.,
