Police appeal to 'paranoid' gunman after Pc shot

Officers in Northumbria are searching for Raoul Thomas Moat, 37, who is suspected of critically injuring his former partner, killing her boyfriend, and wounding a police officer.

Yesterday, North Tyneside Det Chief Supt Neil Adamson revealed Moat, who has been described as paranoid and violent, had made contact with the police around the time of the third shooting.

Making a direct appeal to him, he said: "You contacted the police and it is clear that you believe certain things to be true which I would like to clarify with you now. You have told us that the police are not taking you seriously. We are. I want you to know that you have our full attention, innocent people have been hurt. This must stop now."

Moat was only released from prison on Thursday after serving a short sentence for assault.

One victim was named yesterday as Chris Brown, 29, who recently moved from Slough in Berkshire to the Gateshead area to take up a job as a karate instructor.

Moat's former partner, Samantha Stobbart, 22, was also shot and was last night in a critical condition in hospital after the attack in Birtley, Gateshead, in the early hours of Saturday. It is thought Miss Stobbart was inside a house in the Scafell area when she was shot through the living room window.

Moments later Mr Brown is believed to have left the house, only to be struck down around 50 metres from the front door.

Then less than 24 hours later, 42-year-old Pc David Rathband was seriously hurt after suffering gunshot wounds to the face and chest area in Newcastle.

Pc Rathband, married with two children and with 10 years on the force, was carrying out a "static patrol" on a roundabout when he was attacked. He was last night in a "critical but stable" condition at Newcastle General Hospital.

Mr Adamson also spoke directly to Moat over claims that his former girlfriend was having an affair with a police officer,

"You believe that Sam was having an affair with a Northumbria Police officer," he said. "Sam has told us this is not true. Our inquiries have verified this."

Relatives of his former partner described Moat as a man prepared to throw his weight around.

Ms Stobbart's grandmother Agnes Hornsby, 69, said he turned up at her house in Gateshead one evening last year wielding a gun because he believed Miss Stobbart was with another man.

"He threatened us with a gun when she was here," she said, "all because she'd put on her Facebook that she was going out with a friend.

"He came here and said 'you've got a man in there' and I said 'there's no men in this house, it's me, Sam and Chanel'.

"He had a gun then and he was out there for about two hours and she was on the phone to him trying to calm him down."