New Roaul Moat claims rubbished by family

Sep 1 2010 by Sophie Doughty, The Journal

NEW claims about the final moments of gunman Raoul Moat’s death have been rubbished by investigators and his family.

It was reported yesterday that sources close to the investigation into the gunman’s death had leaked details about his last movements.

The claims suggest that Moat did shoot himself on a riverbank in Rothbury, Northumberland, before police officers fired tasers at him, following the stand-off on a riverbank in Rothbury, in the early hours of July 10.

However, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, (IPCC) which is probing the circumstances surrounding Moat’s death, said investigators were nowhere near to establishing exactly what happened and when.

A spokesman said: “We are not there yet. We are not even close to being there yet.”

And Moat’s uncle, Charlie Alexander, has rubbished the claims.

The 72-year-old of Leam Lane Gateshead, said: “We haven’t got a clue where these claims have come from. We know nothing about it.

“It’s upsetting because we paid £600 for a second post mortem and the results haven’t even come out yet and when it does there’s only us, the coroner and the IPCC that will get a copy.”

Raoul Moat, 37, died on a riverbank in Rothbury seven days after he travelled to Birtley, Gateshead, with a loaded shotgun and killed Chris Brown, 29, before shooting and wounding his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, 22.

Then, less than 24 hours later, the fugitive called Northumbria Police to declare war on the force before shooting and blinding traffic officer PC David Rathband, 42, at the roundabout between the A1 and the A69 in Newcastle.

Moat was eventually cornered the following Friday on a riverbank in Rothbury where he is said to have taken his own life, after a tense six-hour stand-off with armed police.

An initial post-mortem examination carried out the day after Moat died found the cause of death to be a gunshot wound consistent with the sawn-off shotgun the former doorman had been carrying.

But after seeing Moat’s body for themselves and hearing that police marksmen fired Tasers at around the same time as he died, the family felt they had been left with unanswered questions.

They paid £600 for a second examination as they feared that Moat, of Fenham, Newcastle, might not have taken his own life.