Express & Star

A West Midlands woman met her husband on Blind Date with the couple now having been married for 34 years.

This weekend will mark 40 years since the Blind Date first aired.

Alex and Sue Tatham tied the knot in 1991 in front of millions of viewers after meeting on the classic dating programme hosted by Cilla Black in 1988.

The couple now live in Streatham Hill, London, and have two children - Emily and Charlie.

The pair renewed their wedding vows back where it all began - St Michael and All Angels Church in Pelsall, Walsall, West Midlands - last year.

New rules will change how police officers are held to account when making split-second decisions to use force in the line of duty, the Government has announced.

The move follows recommendations from a review carried out after Sergeant Martyn Blake was acquitted for the murder of Chris Kaba in October last year.

Metropolitan Police officer Blake shot the 24-year-old in Streatham, south-east London, in September 2022 after Mr Kaba tried to ram his way past police cars that had hemmed him in.

Campaigners have expressed “deep concern” over a review of police accountability launched in the wake of anger over the murder charge brought against the police officer who shot gang member Chris Kaba.

Groups including Inquest, Liberty and the Centre for Women’s Justice wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper urging her not to change the threshold for an inquest conclusion of unlawful killing, or move against a key ruling on police misconduct proceedings.

Frontline police are losing the confidence to use their full powers after lengthy prosecutions like the trial of the officer who shot Chris Kaba, the shadow home secretary has said.

Chris Philp told a policing conference in Westminster that if the Government does not bring in legal changes to give officers better protection he will bring proposals to Parliament himself.

Frontline police are losing the confidence to use their full powers after lengthy prosecutions like the trial of the officer who shot Chris Kaba, the shadow home secretary has said.

Chris Philp told a policing conference in Westminster that if the Government does not bring in legal changes to give officers better protection he will bring proposals to Parliament himself.

Hundreds of people have gathered for a march in central London to protest over deaths in custody alongside the Justice for Chris Kaba campaign.

Activists gathered on the corner of Trafalgar Square and marched with United Families and Friends Campaign to Downing Street.

The campaign group supports the families of “loved ones lost at the hands of the state”.

Five family members – including one relative of Mr Kaba – arrived at Downing Street dressed in black with a hand-written note addressed to Sir Keir Starmer.

Campaigners and police representatives have called for change following the acquittal of a Metropolitan Police firearms officer accused of the murder of Chris Kaba.

Martyn Blake was cleared of the murder of Mr Kaba, who died after being shot in the head by the police marksman in south London in September 2022.

A jury at the Old Bailey acquitted Mr Blake after around three-and-a-half hours of deliberation on Monday.

After the verdict on Monday afternoon, Mr Kaba’s family said they were “devastated” and felt “the deep pain of injustice”.

Jurors in the trial of a police marksman accused of the murder of Chris Kaba have retired to consider their verdicts.

Metropolitan Police firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, fatally shot the 24-year-old through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 in Streatham, south London, on September 5 2022.

Hemmed in by marked and unmarked police cars, Mr Kaba drove the Audi backwards and forwards in an attempt to escape, the Old Bailey has heard.

The police marksman who fatally shot Chris Kaba has been cleared of his murder.

Martyn Blake, 40, stood trial at the Old Bailey after shooting the 24-year-old through the front windscreen of an Audi Q8 in Streatham, south-east London, on September 5 2022.

The jury deliberated for some three hours on Monday to clear Mr Blake who appeared to be briefly overcome with emotion as the verdict was returned.

He breathed out, puffed his cheeks and turned away in an apparent show of relief.

The police marksman on trial for killing Chris Kaba was no “RoboCop” with the “nanosecond” reactions of a computer, a court has heard.

Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake shot 24-year-old Mr Kaba in the head through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 which had been linked to a shotgun incident the night before.

The Old Bailey has heard how unarmed Mr Kaba knew the police were following him and when surrounded by armed response vehicles had tried to smash and ram his way out.