RELATIVES OF Raoul Moat, the fugitive suspected killer who died in the early hours of Saturday in Northumbria, have demanded a second postmortem on his body, unhappy with the police’s version of his final moments.
Northumbria police said they fired two high-voltage Taser rounds at Moat near the riverbank in Rothbury, but his brother, Angus, said no sign of any wounds from the rounds was later found.
In an emotional Sky News TV interview, the brother, who had seen little of Moat in his final years, complained bitterly about the 24-hour news channels’ coverage of the final six hours of the drama.
“I think I’m probably the only person who’s ever watched his brother die on national television in the UK, which is horrific,” said Angus Moat, who added that police refused appeals from both him and his uncle, Charlie, to go to the scene.
Police did bring one of the fugitive suspect killer’s friends, Anthony Laidler, to the riverbank late on Saturday night, but it has emerged that he was not allowed to speak directly to him.
“He’s not a psycho-killer. He’s a brother, a son, a father – he’s a man who’s had a nervous breakdown. He wasn’t undercover. He went to that riverbank, which is very exposed, to give himself up,” said Angus Moat. “That’s a tired, cold man who’s had enough. He’s not a defiant gunman.
“He was a broken man. I said [to the police], ‘Look, I’m Raoul’s brother, you’ve got to get me up there’. I love him deeply and dearly.
“I know what he’s done is horrendous, but I do love him. He’s my only brother,” he continued.
However, his interpretation of events is contradicted by one policeman on the scene, who said Moat repeatedly said he would not spend the rest of his life in jail.
“It’s chucking it down with rain, it’s a really heavy rainstorm. He’s on a grassy bank, he’s soaked to the skin in non-waterproofed clothing and he’s got a gun to his head.
“If you hit him with a Taser, he’s going to go into involuntary spasms.
“If he’s got his finger on the trigger, that spasm will possibly involuntarily pull that trigger. Perhaps those Tasers, rather than stopping him taking his own life, may have caused it,” he said.
Northumbria police are now facing multiple investigations into their handling of the seven-day hunt for Moat, its final moments, and the response to a warning from Durham jail 10 days ago that he had made threats against his former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Moat visited a close friend, Andy McAllister, on Saturday, before he shot Constable David Rathband, who was on traffic police duty. The officer is recovering from serious chest and facial injuries.
However, Moat returned to Mr McAllister’s home in the early hours of last Monday and gave him the rambling 49-page letter in which he tried to justify his actions.
This was later released to the police and to the media.
Mr McAllister now claims it took police an hour to arrive after he called them following Moat’s departure from his home, while some residents of Rothbury insist they had told police about finding the Lexus car he had used to travel to the village hours before the police made it public.
Geoffrey Brown, the father of Chris Brown – the man killed with a shotgun blast by Moat last Saturday week outside Ms Stobbart’s house in Gateshead – praised the police for tracking down his son’s killer.
“On behalf of our family, we would like to thank Northumbria Police and all the other forces involved in trying to bring the hunt for Raoul Moat to a peaceful conclusion.
“As we mourn our son and brother, we are aware that the cowardly act of Moat will affect others, including Moat’s family, who will have to live with his actions for the rest of their lives,” said Mr Brown.
In Rothbury yesterday, locals gathered for a church service, though a police search of nearby grounds was still under way to find any other weapons Moat may have had with him during the hunt.
Northumbria Police assistant chief constable Greg Vant said: “There is some intelligence that Raoul Moat may have had more than one weapon, and it is only prudent, with the safety of the public in mind, not to rule such a possibility out.”