Scotland Yard boss hits out at Raoul Moat tributes

Jul 14 2010 by Laura Caroe, The Journal

THE outburst of macabre hero worship for murderer Raoul Moat was criticised last night by the country’s most senior police officer.

Scotland Yard boss Sir Paul Stephenson labelled ghoulish tributes as “extraordinarily disappointing”.

Asked about the response at New Scotland Yard, the officer suggested he struggled to understand it.

Sir Paul said: “People really do need to think about what precisely they are saying about our society and individuals in it.”

Flowers and cards have transformed the riverside in Rothbury, Northumberland, where Moat shot himself in the early hours of Saturday morning, into a shrine.

Tributes continued to be laid at the site yesterday. One newly-laid tribute read: ‘RIP Raoul never forgotten, Legend. Wish we knew you! Ya in a much better place. Steven, Kelly, Caitlin from Newcastle.’

Another said: ‘RIP Raoul always remembered. N.E. legend free from your pain and anguish x Did not deserve to die that way.’

Around 50 colourful bouquets have also been left outside his former home in Fenham, Newcastle.

One card read: “We have all the good memories of growing up together and the fun times.

“They don’t say about the real Raoul Moat. A good mate, a good dad, good at school, well-mannered, hard-working businessman. That’s the real Raoul Moat.”

The culvert in which Raoul Moat was believed by Rothbury residents to have hidden has become an unlikely tourist attraction.