Rothbury to play starring role in new ITV crime drama about hunt for Raoul Moat
and live on Freeview channel 276
After being released from Durham Prison in July 2010, Moat, 37, shot and wounded ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and killed her new partner Chris Brown.
He also shot police officer David Rathband in the face before eventually killing himself after a tense six-hour stand-off with Northumbria Police in the picturesque market town.
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Hide AdThe Hunt for Raoul Moat has been produced by World Productions, the same team which brought us popular dramas including Line of Duty, The Pembrokeshire Murders and Vigil.
The drama focuses on the innocent victims of Moat’s crimes, and will also shine a light on the police officers who put themselves in the firing line trying to apprehend Moat and the local journalist who sought to tell Moat’s story in a landscape of sensationalist reporting and social media provocation.
Despite Northumbria Police’s best efforts, Moat evaded them for more than a week, threatening to kill officers and members of the public.
During this time he became a bizarre ‘anti-hero’, regarded by some people as a persecuted victim fighting back against the authorities. The reality was he was a narcissistic sociopath armed with guns and explosives who declared war on the police.
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Hide AdThe drama will star Lee Ingleby, Sonya Cassidy, Vineeta Rishi, Sally Messham, Matt Stokoe and Josef Davis, and has been written by novelist and screenwriter Kevin Sampson.
Sampson 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 do hope this drama will go some way to condemning this narrative.”
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Hide AdSimon Heath and Jake Lushington, on behalf of World Productions, added: “Kevin has written a compelling and unflinching account of these shocking events which highlights the human tragedy behind the lurid headlines.”
ITV has not yet confirmed when the show will be aired, but it will be within the next few months.