Raoul Moat: 15 years since fugitive gunman died after one of the UK’s biggest manhunts

Moat, 37, died in the early hours of 10 July 2010 following a dramatic six-hour armed standoff with police on a riverbank in Rothbury, Northumberland. His death by suicide brought a week-long reign of terror to an end.

The former nightclub doorman had been released from Durham Prison on July 1, 2010 after serving a sentence for assault. Within 48 hours, he began his rampage.

In the early hours of 3 July, he shot dead 29-year-old Chris Brown outside a house in Birtley. Brown’s girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart – Moat’s former partner and mother of his daughter – was then shot through a front window and left critically injured.

The next day, Moat ambushed and shot PC David Rathband in the face as the officer sat in his patrol car at a roundabout in East Denton. Rathband was permanently blinded and later died by suicide in 2012.

“Raoul Thomas Moat is a wanted man. He is very dangerous and shouldn't be approached by a member of the public,” warned Northumbria Police's then Temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim. She later confirmed Moat had phoned 999, 12 minutes before shooting PC Rathband to say he intended to target a police officer.

Over the following days, Moat evaded capture as police scrambled armed officers from across the UK, including the Metropolitan Police and Police Service of Northern Ireland, who supplied armoured vehicles. A £10,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture.

A nationwide appeal was made by Stobbart, who pleaded: “Please give yourself up. If you still loved me and our baby you would not be doing this.”

Moat’s descent into violence was accompanied by public social media posts. Shortly before the shootings, he changed his Facebook status to: “Just got out of jail, I’ve lost everything... Watch and see what happens.” He later wrote a letter declaring “war” on police and promising not to stop “until I'm dead.”

Police later arrested two associates, Karl Ness and Qhuram Awan, who were with Moat during parts of his rampage. Both were later sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to murder and other offences.

Moat was finally cornered on July 9, 2010 in Rothbury. Armed officers surrounded him on a riverbank, and negotiators attempted to coax him into surrendering.

“Officers discharged Taser while striving to persuade Moat to give himself up peacefully,” said Sim. However, the operation ended just after 1am on July 10, when Moat fatally shot himself. An inquest later confirmed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head.

Assistant Chief Constable Steve Ashman later admitted he authorised the use of an unapproved long-range Taser in a desperate attempt to capture Moat alive: “I broke rules to use the pump action, XREP Taser,” he told the inquest.

A jury in September 2011 returned a verdict of suicide.

ITV’s The Hunt for Raoul Moat

The tragedy, however, inspired a TV series, The Hunt for Raoul Moat on ITV. Sue Sim, who was Northumbria Police’s chief constable at the time, said she was "absolutely horrified" at the decision to air the programme.

“I won’t watch it. I actually lived the events, I know exactly what happened,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live. "For what end is this being done other than to make a huge amount of money for the people involved?"

Sim criticised the production for notifying PC Rathband’s widow by email, calling it "appalling" and added: “They phoned me to let me know I would be appearing in it. I asked them if they had all the facts. They said they were working with people who'd been there at the time. I just said if you are going to do it, and I disagree with it, please make sure you use the facts and they uttered the immortal words, 'it's a dramatisation, Mrs Sim.’”

An ITV spokesperson said the series was based on "extensive research" and aimed to highlight the perspectives of victims and those impacted.