It was the country’s largest ever manhunt, involving 160 armed officers, and over the course of a week in July 2010, the country was taken over.
Raoul Mowatt, an ex-con who grievously injured his ex-girlfriend, killed her new boyfriend and wounded a police officer with a gunshot eye, went on the run and has been hiding out in the wilds of Northumberland, where he gains a cult ghoul status after attracting the unexpected attention of football legend Paul Gascoigne.
Now a three-part ITV drama The Hunt For Raoul Moat, airing this week and starring Bodyguard’s Matt Stokoe as the killer, tells the full story of the former nightclub bouncer’s rampage, the mistakes he allowed to happen and the terrible human cost of the tragedy. .
Before the violence broke out, Khote, 37, was in Durham Prison, serving an 18-week sentence for assaulting a relative.
While he was inside his girlfriend Sam Stobart told him she had a new boyfriend. Then Khandaq told a fellow prisoner that he had harmed her when he got out; The other inmate reported the threat to a prison officer, but when this information was passed on to the police no action was taken.
Lee Ingleby as Chief of Police Neil Adamson (second right) during the drama recreating the final showdown The Hunt For Raoul Moat
Upon his release, Mowat tracks down Sam and shoots, wounding and killing her new boyfriend, Chris Brown. Then he ran off, blinding PC David Rathband before going to Earth.
Bushcraft expert Ray Mears is called in to help track him down, and during the final confrontation by Coquet River, Paul Gascoigne arrives in a taxi carrying beer, chicken, and a fishing rod, claiming—wrongly—that he knows Moat and can persuade him to turn himself in.
The former England player is denied access to Moat, who eventually shoots himself.
“We’re following what happened with Moat, but it’s also partly a love story,” explains writer Kevin Sampson.
“We get to know Sam and Chris in order to honor them.”
The main focus, he says, is on the victims and the police’s frantic attempts to capture their target.
We conducted detailed interviews with the officers who worked on the case to find out the details.
Among them was former Northumbria Chief Constable Neil Adamson, who led the search and is played by The A Word’s Lee Ingleby.
Now three part ITV drama The Hunt For Raoul Moat, airing this week starring Bodyguard’s Matt Stokoe as the killer (pictured)
Upon his release, Moat (pictured) tracked down Sam, shooting, wounding and killing her new boyfriend, Chris Brown
“It was clear he was under a lot of pressure at the time,” says Lee, who also spoke to Mr. Adamson. The media and the public wanted answers.
Matt Stock says it was necessary to present Moat as the monstrous creature he was, rather than the anti-hero who was celebrated on social media.
“I’m not surprised he became a hero figure, however horrific he was,” says Matt. There seems to be support for the likes of him, but he didn’t deserve such recognition.
I grew up in the community in which these events took place. It felt so close to home, so it was really important to me that we get the drama just right. The subject is so heavy that at the end of the shoot I felt a deep sadness that was hard to change. I could not shake the tragedy that lies at the heart of the story.
Accuracy was also important to the production team.
Drama is never exciting. We try to explain what happened, where mistakes were made by the police and other agencies, says executive producer Jake Lushington.
“We’re not looking for cheap ratings, we’re using drama to inform.”
The Hunt For Raoul Moat, Sun-Tuesday, 9pm, ITV1 and ITVX.
