ITV viewers have been gripped by the edge-of-your-seat drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat based on the real life story.
The dramatised version has now concluded in the show’s tense finale, but the real-life rampage left its mark on victims for years to come. The events began on July 3, 2010, when in a jealousy-fuelled Moat hunted down and shot his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and her new boyfriend Chris Brown.
Samantha survived her ex’s bullets but unfortunately, her partner Chris died instantly following the attack. Moat, who was just two days out of jail at the time, embarked on a week-long reign of terror across Gateshead and Newcastle, as part of a vendetta against the police.
The Mirror reports that just hours after Moat’s attack on Samantha and Chris, he went on to shoot and blind PC David Rathband before going on the run, sparking the largest manhunt in modern UK history. Police officers hunted for Moat while he would torment them with phone calls, threatening to kill them and members of the public.
In the end, Moat took his own life and shot himself in the head after a tense stand-off in Northumberland.
Now almost 13 years after the tragic events and attacks took place, Moat’s crime spree has been thrust back into public consciousness. So what happened to the survivors and those tragically caught up in his rage?
Samantha Stobbart
Samantha Stobbart was Raoul Moat’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his then four-year-old daughter. The criminal was jailed for assault in early 2010, and Samantha moved on and started a new relationship with karate instructor Chris Brown.
In a move to get her ex to stay away from her, Samantha told Moat that Chris was a police officer due to his disdain for the profession. However, what Samantha thought would protect her new relationship ended up destroying it as Moat decided to get “vengence” and two days after his release from prison, he confronted the couple.
He shot Chris at close range with a sawn-off shotgun, in the neck, chest, and head. He was killed instantly. The former bouncer then shot Samantha, hitting her in the arm and abdomen.
Trying to rebuild her life after the heartbreaking tragedy was a struggle for Samantha as she was terrified following the ordeal.
“All I have to do is shut my eyes and I’m there. Chris is lying on the grass, dead. And Raoul is outside,” she told the Mirror in 2012. “There are hundreds of people out there who blame me. That’s why we have moved three times in two years, why I’m now living with my parents, and why I’m always looking over my shoulder.”
Samantha has since stepped back from the public eye, and chose not to speak publicly during the drama in a bid for a fresh start.
Moat’s children
Moat seemingly had six children from different women, including the eldest Katelaine Fitzpatrick. Katelaine, now 24, and mum Caroline Dodd, 43, were rushed to a safe house by police during his crime spree for their own protection.
Katelaine had never known her father and was 11 when died. “When he killed himself we hugged each other,” she said recently. “I didn’t hate him then, I didn’t want him to be dead. But it was over, a relief.”
Caroline now works as a counsellor and Katelaine is a full-time mum to children McKenzie, seven, and baby Harper, who she credits with helping her “move on”.
She previously said: “Being his flesh and blood sickens me at times, it’s hard to believe who I am. I can’t believe I come from that man. I’m so glad I didn’t know him, and that I became the person I am today despite all I have been through.”
Chris Brown’s family
Chris Brown’s family are not happy about the recent dramatisation of their son’s death for TV audiences, and they blame Samantha for the events that took place.
At Chris’ inquest, Samantha said in her testimony that the karate instructor had purposely stepped in front of Moat’s gun in a bid to protect her. The grieving family blamed Samantha’s lie after telling her ex that Chris was a policeman.
Christopher’s mother Sally Brown, 72, is still living with the pain, recently saying of Samantha’s fateful lie: “Why goad the man? [Moat] She knew what he was capable of. So yes, I blame her.”
She’s also furious about the TV show and slammed TV bosses chasing ratings: “When they make these programmes no-one ever thinks about the mothers. They should allow my son to rest in peace.”
PC David Rathband
PC David Rathband was caught in the crossfire of Moat’s jealousy fuelled rampage after he was randomly shot by the assailant. The officer was sitting inside his parked patrol car when he was randomly shot.
In a bizarre coincidence, Rathband had interviewed Moat under caution a year earlier in the back of his police car, for driving a van that was uninsured. But that fateful day, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He survived but was left disfigured and blind, later saying: ”There was a white flash of light from the barrel and that was the last thing I saw.”
The officer used his profile to set up the Blue Lamp Foundation to support emergency workers who were injured at work. Rathband was heartbreakingly found dead in his home 18 months after the shooting.
The police officer reportedly couldn’t cope with his disability and the breakdown of his marriage and took his own life, a coroner ruled. The officer had moved out of the marital home in August 2011 after his wife Kath found out he was having an affair with 7/7 London bombing survivor Lisa French.
Days before his death, he had tweeted: “Disaster. Job lost, eyes lost, family lost, wife and marriage lost, what a year.”’
PC Rathband’s daughter Mia
PC Rathband shared his daughter Mia with his ex-wife Kath. At the time of her dad’s shooting, the young girl was at home celebrating her 12th birthday with her family and friends.
The police officer was not supposed to be working that day but had volunteered for a shift in order to keep the house free for her friend’s sleepover party. Just months after his death in early 2012, then 13-year-old Mia took up his place as a torchbearer in the London Olympic Games, completing her stint blindfolded to honour her father.
Mia, now 24, lives in Yorkshire and is a mum to her 15-month-old son Ronnie who she gave the middle name of David after the grandfather he will never know. She’s also followed in her father’s footsteps to become a police officer, as well as helping his charity foundation.
“I wanted to do it for my dad, really,” she said of joining the force. “When he was alive, I’d said I was thinking of it. I guess that what happened to him was either going to put me off completely or push me towards it.
“But if I’d let it put me off, it would have meant Moat winning, wouldn’t it? When I got the letter saying I’d been accepted, it was bittersweet. I wanted to ring Dad to tell him.”
Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne’s role in the rampage wasn’t shown on the ITV series but the former sportsman played an infamous role in the 2010 manhunt.
He made headlines after turning up at Raoul Moat’s final stand-off in Rothbury, convinced he would be able to get through to the killer in what would turn out to be his final hours.
However, Gazza was suffering from mental health issues and abusing alcohol and drugs at the time. He arrived at a police stand-off in his dressing gown with chicken, lager and a fishing rod. Speaking in 2015 he said he “genuinely believed” he was the “best therapist in the world” and was capable of “saving Raoul”.
Source: Daily Record
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