RAY Mallon launched a new career yesterday - as a fundraiser for a children's hospice.

Detective Superintendent Mallon - the officer at the centre of the Operation Lancet controversy - toured the Butterwick Children's Hospice, Stockton, Teesside.

He said: "I thought, like most people, that hospices were dark and hopeless places, full of dying people.

"But the people here really overwhelmed me with their spark and love of life. They are full of energy and put me to shame when I think about what I worry and complain about.''

Det Supt Mallon will speak at a dinner at the Hallgarth Hotel, near Darlington, on Thursday, next week.

Tickets, costing £20, are available from Ray Laidler, at the hospice's fundraising office, on (01642) 624231.