Suicide verdict over Moat death

27 September 2011 Last updated at 12:38 ET

Raoul Moat died following a six-hour stand-off with armed officers

Inquest jurors have returned a verdict of suicide in the death of gunman Raoul Moat, who shot himself in the head after a six-hour stand-off with police.

The 37-year-old former doorman died in Rothbury in July 2010.

The hearing was told that Moat was hit by an experimental shotgun Taser round fired by marksmen who believed he was preparing to kill himself.

Meanwhile an Independent Police Complaints Commission report found no evidence of misconduct by officers.

The IPCC looked at the period from the sighting of Moat until his death, including strategy and tactics and the deployment of Tasers.

It concluded that there may be “some learning” for Northumbria Police from the investigation but there was no evidence of misconduct by any police officers.

On the run

One area the jury had to consider was whether the use of Tasers was appropriate. It returned its verdict after deliberating for more than five hours.

The inquest heard that the aim was to incapacitate Moat, allowing officers to make an arrest.

Officers were offered and accepted X12 Taser shotguns which were licensed only for testing in the UK.

The shotguns were used because they fired XREP cartridges over a longer range than conventional handheld Tasers.

It was the first time firearms officers had seen the weapons.

Two were fired, with one hitting his forearm and the other missing, and shortly afterwards Moat shot himself.

A consultant neuropathologist told the inquest he did not believe the gunman shot himself because a Taser caused his hand to contract.

Dr Ian Schofield said there was no definitive evidence of an electrical discharge from the non-approved Taser which hit Moat’s left arm.

The 37-year-old had been on the run for a week after shooting his ex-partner Samantha Stobbart, murdering her new boyfriend Chris Brown and later blinding PC David Rathband.

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