Pc David Rathband's twin said it was "time to take my brother home" at the end of a moving cathedral service for the officer who died after he was shot and blinded by a gunman.
Darren Rathband drove the hearse from St Nicholas's Cathedral, Newcastle, to their native Staffordshire, having earlier booked his brother out from Etal Lane police station - formally finishing the shift he never completed.
Darren Rathband, David's twin brother
Pc Rathband's children Mia, 13, and Ashley, 19, were at the cathedral, along with actor Tim Healy, Northumbria Police chief constable Sue Sim, police minister Nick Herbert, members of the emergency services, and hundreds of members of the North East public who took the Midlander to their hearts.
He was shot and blinded while unarmed in his patrol car in July 2010 by gunman Raoul Moat.
He was found hanging at his home in Blyth, Northumberland, on February 29.
Six pallbearers from the police, fire and ambulance service carried his coffin through the cathedral.
In a heart-breaking speech, his twin 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."