ITV The Hunt for Raoul Moat: who is Raoul Moat, timeline of killer’s shooting spree and how to watch on TV

This Sunday ITV will air The Hunt for Raoul Moat, a drama about the week-long manhunt for the North East killer 13 years on.

In July 2010, Moat shot two people before going on the run and shooting a police officer. The exploit lasted for a week and cost the police over £1.4 million.

But who was Raoul Moat and what actually happened to make him one of the North East’s most notorious killers?

Who is Raoul Moat?

Raoul Moat was a 6ft3 bodybuilding bouncer from Newcastle who, until July 2010, had been serving a 18-week sentence at Durham Prison for assaulting a nine-year-old relative.

Over the course of his life he was arrested 12 times, resulting in charges for seven offences.

On his release from Durham Prison, Moat was hoping to rekindle his relationship with 22-year-old Samantha Stobbart, with whom he shared a child. However, Ms Stobbart claimed she was in a new relationship with a police officer- something that wasn’t true- in order to keep her ex-partner away.

This fuelled the 37-year-old’s hatred of the police leading him to blame them for his life falling apart.

In reality, Ms Stobbart was in a relationship with 29-year-old karate instructor, Christopher Brown.

What happened next?

In the early hours of 3rd July 2010, a few days after being released from prison, Moat went to his ex-girlfriend’s house in Birtley with a sawn-off shotgun.

He shot Ms Stobbart in the stomach, leaving her with life changing injuries, and killed Mr Brown.

Moat later claimed he had heard the pair laughing about him with neighbours hours earlier through an open window.

After the shootings, Moat went on the run triggering a £1.4 million manhunt for the killer by Northumbria Police.

The next day Moat rang the police to warn them he would attack another officer. Hours later, he shot PC David Rathband twice while he was sitting in his patrol car on an A1 round near East Denton.

The officer was blinded in the attack.

The manhunt continued, with sniper teams, armed officers, helicopters, dogs and anti-terrorist vehicles all deployed to help catch the killer.

Police were also posted outside of schools.

It is said Moat continued to call and gloat to Northumbria Police throughout the following days. He also posted some of his thoughts to Facebook.

Several people were arrested over the course of the week, suspected of helping him.

He was spotted in Seaton Delaval as part of an armed robbery before taking refuge with some accomplicesin Rothbury, Northumberland.

The law managed to trace Moat there and placed the whole area under a lockdown. Vehicles were searched and police took over the small market town.

Moat was eventually cornered to a field by the river and endured a six hour standoff with police.

Famously, footballer Paul Gascoigne showed up at the scene with a fishing rod, chicken and some lager in an attempt to get the killer to surrender. He claimed him and Moat were good friends, a statement that has been retracted since. The Newcastle legend was at the height of his drug addiction at the time.

Negotiations proved futile after six hours, however, and Moat shot himself in the head at 1:10am on July 10.

Moments before, police tasered him in an attempt to stop the suicide.

What will The Hunt for Raoul Moat follow?

Although the three-part dramatisation is set to follow the actions of Raoul Moat, viewers should expect him to feature surprisingly very little.

Instead, the show will focus on the victims, as well as the police and journalists who tried to uncover the truth and trace the killer amidst the sensationalist reporting and social media interference.

Online, Moat had a surprising amount of support and this exacerbated police efforts. A Facebook tribute group to the killer amassed more than 30,000 contributions before being taken down.

Lee Ingleby (The A Word) is set to star in the lead role of senior Northumbria police officer Neil Adamson- the real life detective on the Moat case during the manhunt.

The rest of the cast is made up of Sonya Cassidy (The Last Kingdom), Vineeta Rishi (Holby City), Sally Messham (Doc Martin), Josef Davies (Chernobyl).

Matt Stokoe from Bodyguard will play Raoul Moat.

Writer Kevin Sampson, speaking when the series was announced last year, said: “The hunt for Raoul Moat gripped me from the start, as it was the first such case to be covered ‘live’ by the new 24-hour news channels in the UK. Even then, it interested me that Moat was being portrayed by some as a ‘legend’ in spite of the brutality of his crimes.

“In 2022, violence against women remains rife and is all too often accompanied by a victim-blaming agenda. I hope this drama will go some way to condemning this narrative.”

Viewers should not expect a Gazza cameo either, as executive producer, Jake Lushington, said earlier: “We’ve referred to it , but it’s got nothing to do with the story we’re trying to tell.”

The series will air on Sunday 16th April at 9pm.

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