POLICE OFFICERS last night negotiated with fugitive murder suspect Raoul Moat, in the Northumbrian village of Rothbury in northern England, after he was tracked down following a week-long hunt involving hundreds of heavily armed officers.
Shortly after 1am, police negotiators were still trying to get Mr Moat, who was by then kneeling on the ground lit by a searchlight, to drop his weapon. Earlier, he had been abusive towards them, but by then, clearly agitated, he told officers: “I haven’t got a Dad. Nobody cares about me,” according to one witness who was able to overhear part of the exchanges and who wished to remain unnamed.
Mr Moat had managed to evade capture by using a storm culvert that runs under the village, which had been expanded last year by as part of works to stop flooding in the town. It now appears that Mr Moat had used the culvert repeatedly over the last few days to make his way into the village to get food from houses and to raid a local allotment, while one resident said he suspected that he had raided a bird-feeder in the garden as he ran low on supplies.
Mr Moat was discovered by two policemen near the river in the village shortly before 8pm. He was just yards from streets that had been repeatedly searched in recent days. Police had been convinced – even in the face of local doubts – that he was still in the area.
Mr Moat, surrounded by 20 marksmen, screamed at them to stay away, while lying on the ground with a shotgun under his chin. He later sat up but kept the weapon where it was. Shortly before 10pm, police brought in a close friend of Mr Moat’s, Tony Laidler, to help negotiators calm him down. He was also brought food and water.
Police repeatedly made clear, however, that they were prepared to talk through the night to end the standoff peacefully.