PC Emma Keane    played by Melanie Gutteridge

First appearance    # 380 (11/01/06)     

University-educated PC Emma Keane was from a middle class background. She was smart, fun-loving and generally well though of and liked; however there were some who thought she tried too hard. Emma was passionate about her career choice and was fairly obstinate, going to extremes to get her result. She was used to getting her own way as she hadn’t experienced failure. She was extremely competitive and self confident, which could sometimes make others perceive her as slightly pig-headed and arrogant.

Emma was determined to do well in the police service and she wanted to prove to her high ranking father - a DCI in the DPS - that she could make it on her own terms and not by using his status. Emma had to exert some sort of strength of character to accommodate this as a trainee PC, particularly when he was brought in to an investigation at Sun Hill on her first few days. She was a proud person who wanted to be recognised for her own merits and outshine her dad. Emma was sociable and outwardly friendly, so she got on well with the relief and vice versa. She was also very diplomatic.

Whilst at Sun Hill, Emma married CPS lawyer Matt Hinckley and it wasn't a relationship without its troubles. Crippled with jealousy, Matt often came to stick the proverbial boot in whenever he could over PC Fletcher or any other friends of Emma’s. But it didn’t stop there either: no matter how well Emma did at work, Matt always undermined her actions and belittled her – chipping away at her confidence. His abuse eventually turned physical, and in self-defence, Emma grabbed a bottle and hit Matt over the head, knocking him out. Luckily, she escaped an attempted murder charge and Matt was sent down. The whole ordeal left her feeling very fragile and exposed, and it took a while for her to regain her confidence, particularly with Sergeant Stone undermining her at every turn.

Emma was ultimately killed by a bomb blast in central London in May 2008. The blast was part of a series of explosions that rocked the capital.