THE life of murdered Blakedown man, Paul Tanner, will be commemorated by his flatmate when he runs in next month's Flora London Marathon.

Guy Moreve started running in a bid to come to terms with his grief after his friend was stabbed to death in Birmingham city centre a year ago.

The victim, a 23-year-old surveyor, was knifed in the abdomen by a teenage mugger in the Jewellery Quarter at the end of a night out, just yards from the flat he shared with Mr Moreve in Northwood Street.

"At first, I started running just to get out of the flat - it was difficult living in an empty flat," said Mr Moreve, who has since moved to another city centre apartment.

The two men had been friends since early schooldays, attending Blakedown First, Hagley Middle and Haybridge High schools together.

"As the running developed, I used the time alone to think and deal with the things that were going on in my head and I could take my frustration out on the road," added 24-year-old Mr Moreve, who works for phone directory company, Yell.

What started as a "pie in the sky" idea of running in the world famous London Marathon turned into a determined effort not only to complete it, but to finish in under three hours, 20 minutes in memory of Mr Tanner, whose family home was in Belbroughton Road.

Mr Moreve, originally from Kidderminster, chose to support the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity because it is Yell's chosen charity and soon realised its value when his grandfather became ill and received its services.

So far, he has raised almost £4,000 and anyone wishing to sponsor him to support the charity and commemorate the life of Mr Tanner can do so through his website at www.helpmerunamarathon.

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Mr Tanner's killer, 17-year-old Antwya Bennett, was jailed for life in December after admitting murder and has to serve a minimum of 14 years. Two other boys, aged 16 and 14, were detained for two and a half years after pleading guilty to robbery and armed robbery.