A retired senior detective fears that if a devious murderer is ever released from prison he will seek revenge on a man who shot him just before his arrest.

Anthony Swindells, who had already killed a defenceless 84-year-old man, planned to rob a remote Birchington farmhouse but was shot by its occupant, Roger Andrews.

Police found a hit list of notable east Kent people Swindells planned to target and reckon he would have killed again if he had not been stopped.

Retired detective superintendent Nick Biddiss is opposing the release of Swindells, who is due to go before the parole board later this year after nearly two decades in prison.

He said: “Swindells still presents a substantial risk to the public, and to certain individuals.

"To let him out after what is a comparatively short period is, at the very least unfair, and in reality dangerous.

“The fact remains that Mr Andrews still lives in the same house at Birchington.”

I honestly believe that, given the opportunity, Swindells will seek revenge for the fact that, not only was Mr Andrews the one who brought him to justice, but he also shot him.”

Former Ramsgate town clerk Kenneth Speakman was found tortured and murdered at his home in late 1996. He was 84.

Robert Green, a forensic scientist at the University of Kent who then worked for Kent Police, was among those who investigated the killing and spoke about it in a feature about his work for last week’s edition of our sister paper, the Kentish Gazette.

His forensic team found a discarded cigarette in Mr Speakman’s home, but could not forensically match it to anyone.

And on the night of February 2, 1997, Swindells burst into Roger Andrews' home armed with four loaded handguns, handcuffs and cable ties.

Mr Andrews, now 70, had been a member of a Herne Bay gun club and armed himself before shooting Swindells three times.

He then helped police capture the intruder.

The married father of two objected to Swindells’ release in 2014 and says he was horrified to learn of the planning the killer had undertaken.

Mr Andrews said: “Swindells had compiled lists of at least 50 people or more. These hit lists contained names, addresses and Christian names of prominent business men in east Kent, including their wives and children’s Christian names.

“These were obviously intended future victims and a considerable amount of research would have been required.”

Swindells was given a life sentence with a 17-year tariff for his crimes.

Mr Andrews says that his life changed forever on that night. He believes that Swindells, who did not feel the need to disguise his identity, would have killed him and his wife Katya plus a woman staying with them had he not shot him.

He will speak again at Swindells’ next Parole Board hearing, due to take place later this year.

But he fears that the Parole Boards are not being given the full information about their offenders.

“All they care about is that Swindells has been a good boy rather than knowing the whole story about him and his crimes,” Mr Andrews said.

“The point is that someone like this, someone who committed premeditated murder, can come up for parole and it does not seem to make any difference what anyone tells them about him.

“I feel Swindells will be looking for retribution after being incarcerated for nearly 20 years" - Nick Biddiss

“I feel Swindells will be looking for retribution after being incarcerated for nearly 20 years.

"He is the sort of man who will think that it is my fault that he was shot and my fault that he was convicted of Mr Speakman’s murder.

“I am also concerned that he has never admitted to killing Mr Speakman, even though there was never any evidence, DNA, or otherwise to indicate that any other persons were involved in the crime, and that he was alone at our residence.

“If he is released, I will live in constant fear for my life, and that of my wife.”

The Ministry of Justice, which oversees the Parole Board, has said that it does not comment on individual cases.