Colin Simpson, who has died aged 69, was a champion bridge player; earlier, as a detective with the Metropolitan Police Special Branch, he came to the assistance of Shlomo Argov, the Israeli ambassador to London, during an assassination attempt in 1982 which precipitated Israel’s invasion of Lebanon three days later.
On June 3 1982 Argov was leaving a dinner for diplomats organised by the banknote printing company De la Rue at the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane, accompanied by Simpson, when he was shot and severely injured by a gunman from Abu Nidal’s organisation, a splinter group of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Simpson chased the assailant on foot and was shot at, although the bullet...