Countdown to Raoul Moat's shooting spree

Jul 5 2010 by Neil Preston, The Journal

EVERY armed officer in the Northumbria Police force was last night on the streets of Tyneside conducting one of the biggest ever manhunts the region has ever seen.

What started as a domestic shooting in the small community of Birtley quickly escalated into the hunt for a dangerous madman, armed with a shotgun, and enraged by a bitter grudge.

This is how the tragic events have unfolded.

Thursday, July 1

Former nightclub bouncer Raoul Thomas Moat, 37, from Fenham, Newcastle, is freed from Durham prison after serving a jail term for assault.

Saturday, July 3 2.40am Shots are fired through the living room window of a house in the Scafell area of Birtley, Gateshead.

Trainee hairdresser Samantha Stobbart, 22, is hit twice.

Moments later her boyfriend, karate instructor Chris Brown, 29, is shot dead outside the front of the house. Emergency services arrive at the scene. Miss Stobbart is rushed to hospital where she remains in a critical condition.

11.30am – Detective Superintendent Steve Howes of Northumbria Police launches a manhunt, telling the media: “I would like to stress that this is not a random attack and that the people involved are all known to each other.”

2.20pm – Police announce that they are trying to trace Moat in connection with the shootings.

Det Supt Howes said the attacker knew his victims, adding: “We believe the offender targeted his victims because of a grudge he held against them.”

It emerges that Moat was previously in a relationship with Miss Stobbart.

Sunday, July 4 12.45am – A police officer, later identified as married father of two, PC David Rathband, 42, is shot in an “unprovoked attack” at a roundabout joining the A1 and A69 in East Denton Newcastle. The officer is rushed to Newcastle General Hospital where his condition is described as critical but stable.

6am – Northumbria Police announce that the shooting is linked to the Birtley inquiry.

Temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim says: “Raoul Thomas Moat is a wanted man. He is very dangerous and shouldn’t be approached by a member of the public.”

Detectives say they believe Moat may also hold a grudge against the police.

2.30am –- Northumbria Police appeal directly to Moat pleading with him to give himself up.

They reveal Moat phoned officers in the early hours of the morning to say he believed Miss Stobbart was having an affair with a police officer.

Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Adamson said he knew Moat was concerned for the future well-being of his children.

“For their sake, this has to stop now,” he said.