A popular detective once branded a ‘supercop’ has died.

Jim Marshall, detective superintendent of Brighton CID for nearly 20 years, passed away aged 97 at The Firs care home in Fareham, Hampshire, on January 5.

The great-grandfather became one of the most lauded and remembered figures in the town after solving 100 murder cases, including the death of child abuse victim Maria Colwell and the biker gang slaying of Clive ‘Ollie’ Olive.

He grew up in the village of Gedney Hill in Lincolnshire and joined Barnsley Police aged 21, before moving to Brighton CID in 1959.

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Known to some as Big Jim, Mr Marshall retired in 1976 and continued to serve his community as a Hove Borough Councillor for Nevill Ward.

He was married to his late wife Bette for 73 years and had two children, Carole and Joyce, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Daughter Joyce, 71, from Fareham, described her father as a “very proud, loving, honest and honourable man”.

She said: “He was a brilliant father and very good at what he did. He left for the conflict in Burma a day after I was born and didn’t see me for about three years.

“But I vividly remember he sent cards and presents for me and I would always know he would come back.

“He was there for all the important things for us growing up, but his job was very demanding.

“I remember as a little girl I found half a crown in the street, which was quite a lot for a youngster back then, and he made me go to the police station and hand it in.

“He never brought his work home with him. We knew when he was working on horrible cases, like child murders for example, because he would come home from work and act quietly.

“He was devoted to our mum and, if I’m honest, her death in July last year was probably a big contributor to his passing.”

Mr Marshall regularly wrote crime articles for The Sun and the Daily Mirror newspapers, detailing what cases he had worked on in his career and was dubbed a “supercop” by journalists.

Joyce said: “He was a muchloved great-grandfather and grandfather too. He will be missed.”

Mr Marshall’s funeral takes place at Wessex Vale Crematorium in Southampton on January 29.

Donations can be made to a charity in lieu of flowers.