Twin brother of tragic PC David Rathband hits out at claims of affair with charity woman after suggesting that he was forced to 'find support outside of the marriage'

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PC Rathband allegedly 'confessed' to wife about affair only days before suicide
His twin brother Darren insists PR Rathband 'wanted marriage to work right until the end' but he was not getting the support he needed
Officer is said to have been close to 7/7 bombing survivor Lisa French
Wife claims she refused to attend moving memorial service over alleged relationship

Published: 04:37 EST, 12 March 2012 | Updated: 09:48 EST, 12 March 2012

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The twin of David Rathband today responded to claims his brother had an affair by admitting that the blinded police officer was forced to 'find support outside of his marriage'.

Darren Rathband spoke out after claims at the weekend that PC Rathband had confessed to his wife Kath about a relationship with another woman shortly before killing himself.

Darren, 44, told The Sun: 'David loved Kath and wanted the marriage to work right until the end. But they were separated and any support he did find was not within the marriage.

'If people want to blame him for finding support outside the marriage then they need to think about having a bit of compassion for the position he was in.'

Close: David Rathband with 7/7 survivor Lisa French seen strolling together in November.

After separating in August, the couple, who had been married for 20 years, had constantly tried to rebuild their relationship.

But late last year, PC Rathband, who was blinded by gunman Raoul Moat in July 2010, was pictured with 7/7 bombing survivor Lisa French, 35, who he had become close to after they met at an event for his Blue Lamp charity.

His wife claimed at the weekend that the alleged affair was with someone he met during his charity work, but there is no evidence PC Rathband and Ms French were anything more than very good friends.

It was also claimed that once he confessed to the relationship she demanded a divorce.

Days later, on February 29, PC Rathband was found hanged at his home in Blyth, Northumberland.

Tragedy: Pc David Rathband, pictured here with his wife Kath, who refused to attend his memorial because of his alleged affair with another woman

Time to take him home: Ashley, 19, and Mia Rathband, 13, are comforted at the service alongside their uncle Darren, who suggested that his twin had found 'support outside of the marriage'

Sad occasion: Emergency workers who were on duty on the night that Pc David Rathband was shot carry his coffin as it arrives at his memorial service at St Nicholas Cathedral, Newcastle

Darren's comments come after claims in another newspaper suggested that Mrs Rathband had repeatedly asked if her police officer husband had been having an affair.

'[Kath] found out through friends that he was seeing another woman,' a friend told the Sunday Mirror. 'She was devastated and felt betrayed.

'At first he denied the extent of the relationship, and she was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.

'But when he eventually admitted it, she made it clear there was no chance of a reconciliation and asked for a divorce.

'It was a last resort. She felt she'd done everything in her power to make it work.'

Touching: Pc Rathband's twin brother Darren pays his respects during the memorial service

Difficult day: Darren Rathband, Pc Rathband's twin, is visibly upset as he sits alongside his coffin outside Etal Lane police station

Although overwhelmed by guilt Mrs Rathband is said to be determined to 'put the record straight' and has contacted publicist Max Clifford to represent her.

She insists that the marriage breakdown was not the only reason her husband took his life.

After separating in August, PC Rathband developed a closer relationship with Miss French, who was seriously injured in a blast on board a London bus more than six years ago.

The human resources manager, who lives in Newcastle and was introduced to the officer at a charity event, has never spoken of their friendship.

Since the blast she has helped a number of charities, including taking a trip to Cambodia to help the victims of landmines.

Respectful: Northumbria Police officers line up to pay their respects to PC David Rathband as his coffin passes the police station where he worked

Paying respects: Darren was met by the Assistant Chief Constable of Northumbria Police Steve Ashman, right, at Etal Lane police station

The revelations came 24 hours after a memorial service for the officer at Newcastle upon Tyne Cathedral.

Mrs Rathband chose not to attend but is expected to travel to Stafford for his funeral on Saturday with the couple's two children, Ash, 19, and Mia, 13.

Before his death PC Rathband took to Twitter to reveal that his wife would be seeking a divorce.

As he prepared to fly home from a three-month trip to Australia to visit his twin brother Darren, he wrote: 'Mrs R said no to getting back. Disaster. So job lost, eyes lost, family lost, wife and marriage lost, what a year.'

In other messages the father of two said 'RIP PC Rathband' and wrote about returning to say 'goodbye to my children'.

Honouring one of their own: The cortege carrying Pc David Rathband leaves the police station for the cathedral

CALLS MADE FOR RATHBAND'S LAW TO BETTER PROTECT 999 WORKERS

Calls were made to better protect 999 workers injured in the line of duty during today's memorial service.

The Government should introduce Rathband's Law to ensure emergency services personnel who are hurt while helping others do not struggle for financial security.

The calls were made in a speech by Pc Rathband's friend Tony Horne, a former DJ and ghost-writer of his autobiography Tango 190.

Despite being left blind, Pc Rathband set up the Blue Lamp Foundation to help other police officers, paramedics or firefighters injured by a criminal act while at work.

In a moving, heartfelt speech, Mr Horne said: 'For me, it would be a beautiful irony and job done if legislation was passed so that there was no need for a Blue Lamp Foundation.

'Rathband's Law, ensuring that all injured servicemen in the line of duty should not want or wait for financial security and emotional support from now until the end of time.'

Mr Horne directly called on politicians to make supporting injured personnel law, saying: 'If you are a public figure who has stood by David sincerely in support, or as a cynical photo opp, your time is now and your duty is to make sure that there are no empty promises and hollow words - make the ethos of the Blue Lamp Foundation a political reality.'

A number of his 11,000 Twitter 'followers' were so worried that they contacted Northumbria Police, which sent a welfare officer to meet him off the plane from Australia, but PC Rathband insisted that he was simply tired after a long flight.

On February 29 he was found dead at his home.

'The guilt Kath now feels is immense,' said the friend. The fact he decided to take his own life has left her in deep shock and wondering what else she could have done.

'But she also feels it's unfair to lay the blame with her when people don't know all the facts.'

PC Rathband was shot twice by ex-bouncer Moat at point-blank range as he sat in his parked traffic car in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Moat, 37, had already shot his former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, 23, and murdered her new partner, 29-year-old karate instructor Chris Brown.

After seven days on the run he was cornered in the Northumberland village of Rothbury.
At the end of a six-hour stand- off with police he shot himself in the head.

Hundreds of well-wishers brought Newcastle city centre to a standstill as PC Rathband's coffin bearing his cap, draped in a Union flag with his call sign, Tango 190, spelt out in flowers, was driven to St Nicholas Cathedral.

Inside, mourners included Police Minister Nick Herbert and Northumbria Chief Constable Sue Sim.

Earlier, Mr Rathband – a police officer in Australia – formally clocked his brother off from what would have been his last shift.

He closed his memorial tribute saying: ‘It’s time to take my brother home.’

Before the service Darren, who organised the service as a celebration of Pc Rathband's life, watched as the pall-bearers from each of the three emergency services brought out the coffin and carried it the short distance into the church.

During his heartbreaking speech watched by about 800 people he said: 'I have lost half of me.

'You don't get over it, you just get through it.

'Every day grief puts on a new face.

'My brother said to me "you're a good brother", I say to my brother "you're a great brother".

'It is time to take my brother home.'

Showing support: Actor Tim Healey, left, arrives at the service to celebrate Pc David Rathband's life

Gunman: Fugitive Raoul Moat shot PC Rathband in the face while he was sat in his patrol car in July 2010

On the way to the cathedral, the hearse stopped at Etal Lane police station, on the outskirts of Newcastle, where Pc Rathband was based.

It was there Darren booked him off the shift he always intended to complete.

The Dean of Newcastle, the Very Reverend Chris Dalliston, welcomed mourners to today's service by saying: 'We come to give thanks for David's life and to recognise the cost he and others have to pay in the call of duty.'

Carly Fee, a humanist celebrant, said: 'David served the North East for 12 years. He put himself at risk every day for the greater good.'

She added: 'One minute he was living an ordinary life - a dad, a husband, a copper.

'The next he was thrust into the public eye - a celebrity, guest of honour at sporting events, a national hero who got a five minute standing ovation at the Pride of Britain Awards.

'Hero worship left David bemused and befuddled, he couldn't get his head around it.

'He swore, without a hint of false modesty, he was just a normal bloke.'

Jos Forester-Melville, a member of the public who helped at the scene of a terrible road traffic accident in Northumberland in which two women died said Pc Rathband, the first officer at the scene, showed tremendous compassion in the days and weeks that followed.

She said: 'David was at that time the kindest and most caring person I could have wished for.

'He spent considerable time talking and listening, making sure I understood I had done what I could.'

Tony Horne, a former DJ and ghost-writer of Pc Rathband's autobiography Tango 190 gave a moving speech during the service.

Having listened to Pc Rathband relive the horror of being shot for the book, he said: 'I knew then that he had seen too much, and I feared this moment would come.'

He added: 'It's to his credit that he fought so long.

'Of that night in July 2010, my friend looked danger in the eye and was not found wanting when asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, displaying bravery in a split second that collectively most of us will struggle to match in a lifetime.

'Congratulations, David, on every day that you lived after. You really were playing on well into added time.'

Mr Horne called on Northumbria Police to accept it made mistakes on the night his friend was shot.

'Unprecedented and testing circumstances I accept, but I urge you now, to tell the whole story of the mistakes that night and finally come forward and say publicly "Sorry David, we should have avoided what happened to you".

'You owe that to your fallen officer.'

Last picture: Pc Rathband, pictured in a Twitter image, suns himself in Australia during his recent ten-week trip

He went on to call on the media to stop naming the gunman who devastated Pc Rathband and his family's lives.

'My friend is called David Rathband - everybody knows his name, and how he became a hero,' he said.

'Let his name, not his attacker be remembered for generations to come.

'We must move from the shadow of that evil and remember him always for his good in society rather than the wickedness bestowed upon him.'

Mr Horne also spoke warmly about the officer's widow, Kath, saying: 'I want to say on the record what a tremendous woman you are.'

He finished: 'As a society, David, we owe you a debt of thanks. So many people in life pass through our worlds - here today, gone tomorrow.

'David may be gone today, but he is very much here in all my tomorrows.

'Rest in peace my friend. I love you, and you're safe now.'

As the hearse drove away, met with public applause a yellow and red Northumbria Police badge tribute could be seen.

Policing Minister Nick Herbert said afterwards: 'I think it is right that we remember this brave police officer and what he did for the community that he served.'

Chief Constable Sue Sim added: 'He was gunned down in tragic circumstances doing the job of constable he loved.

'My heart goes out to Kath and the children and the rest of the family.'