The true story of the Raoul Moat manhunt, explored in ITV documentary tonight

Tonight, ITV is airing an hour-long documentary exploring the true story of the Raoul Moat killings and subsequent manhunt, which became the biggest manhunt in British history.

The former nightclub bouncer from Newcastle killed one person and wounded two others before going on the run for a week. A decade on from the case, the new ITV documentary contains exclusive new interviews with family members, witnesses and journalists who covered the hunt on the ground. It combines a mixture of new and archive footage and stills and promises to provide a vivid insight into Moat’s mindset, and to get the inside track on how he was finally found.

Here is the full, true story of what happened in the Raoul Moat case.

Raoul Moat had just left prison when he went on his rampage

37-year-old Raoul Moat was released from Durham prison on July 1st 2010, where he had been held for assault. He had been serving an 18-week sentence for assaulting a nine-year-old family member.

It was just two days later, in the early hours of the 3rd July, when he targeted his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and her new partner, Chris Brown near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Raoul Moat shot them both – Brown was killed and Samantha Stobbart was hospitalised because of her injuries.

The next day, on July 4th, Moat shot PC David Rathband, as he sat in his patrol car, leaving him permanently blinded. David Rathband was in hospital for nearly three weeks after the attack. He died by suicide two years later.

Moat was said to have held a grudge against police officers, because his ex-girlfriend Samantha had lied about being in a relationship with an officer. Rathband, who happened to have on a previous occasion stopped Raoul Moat under suspicion for having an uninsured van, was targeted randomly – just because he was police.

His 2010 manhunt then became the biggest in UK history

The 2010 Northumbria Police manhunt was a major operation in Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. After he had killed one person and wounded two others, Raoul Moat went on the run for a week.

During the manhunt, Moat is said to have made threats via letter, on his Facebook profile and in phone calls which included saying he would kill any officers who tried to stop him. He was believed to have been sleeping rough, and police found many of his abandoned camp sites as he evaded capture.

There were police placed outside schools, and several people were arrested under suspicion of trying to help him hide from police, as it was believed he posed a much wider threat to the general public. The manhunt included 160 armed officers, sniper teams, helicopters, dogs and armoured anti-terrorist vehicles.

After being recognised by police in Rothbury, the pursuit ended when Moat was cornered and took his own life. This was following a six-hour stand off with armed police officers under the command of the Northumbria Police. Raoul Moat was pronounced dead at the scene on July 10th 2010.

Manhunt: The Raoul Moat Story airs on ITV1 on Thursday 9th July at 9pm.

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