Uncle of Raoul Moat hopes truth will emerge
Jul 24 2010 by Adam Jupp, The Journal
THE uncle of killer Raoul Moat says he cannot reconcile the actions of his nephew with the “fun-loving, quiet child” he knew.
Moat injured ex-girlfriend Sam Stobbart, killed her new boyfriend Chris Brown and blinded PC David Rathband in a two-day shooting spree.
He then shot himself after a stand-off with police in Rothbury, Northumberland, after seven days on the run.
In an open letter to the “victims, their families and others”, Moat’s uncle Charlie Alexander speaks of his sorrow at the gunman’s actions.
He says: “I am in no way defending Raoul by writing this letter.
“The crimes he committed were terrible and inexcusable. An innocent person was killed and a policeman, doing his duty, maimed and disfigured.
“Nothing I can say by way of apology can make amends for what he did and the hurt and sorrow he caused to the families of the innocent victims.
“What I will say is that the reasons for his action may never be discovered and many questions remain unanswered.
“I only wish that he had been arrested, tried and convicted for his terrible deeds and we may have discovered what caused his breakdown that culminated in that tragic weekend.”
Concluding his letter, Mr Alexander says he doesn’t believe the truth about what led to “this terrible episode” will ever be known.
He writes: “Something caused the change in his personality that changed a fun-loving, quiet child and teenager into a cold-blooded gunman and killer.
“The signs were missed or ignored by the authorities, and this combined with the harassment and constantly making promises and then breaking them, hence the Dictaphone when he went to meetings.
“I sincerely hope that the truth will emerge and we might find an explanation to what caused this terrible episode which culminated in the death of two men and the maiming of a PC.
“As Raoul is unable to state his side, I somehow doubt it.”
Mr Alexander had been not seen his nephew for several years, but when contact was re-established through a cousin, Raoul attended Mr Alexander’s wife’s funeral.
Mr Alexander and Moat’s brother Angus are awaiting the results of a second post-mortem on Raoul. In the letter, he says he wishes to find out if the Tasers that were fired could have caused involuntary muscle contractions, causing the trigger of the shotgun to be pulled by Moat.
