Gunman Raoul Moat was a police informer

[Jan Klimkowski]

Police used a stun gun not yet approved for use.

Home Office still testing stun guns used on Raoul Moat

Police used a new type of stun gun, capable of incapacitating someone for 20 seconds, as they tried to arrest Raoul Moat

Raoul Moat was shot by two officers using a new type of stun gun not yet approved for police use, the inquest into the death of the gunman heard today.

The Taser Xrep is deployed from a 12-gauge shotgun with a range of 100ft. It can incapacitate a person for 20 seconds, much longer than a regular stun gun.

Steve Reynolds, the Independent Police Complaints Commission's senior investigator, told the coroner in Newcastle that West Yorkshire officers discharged their Tasers in "an effort to prevent Mr Moat taking his own life".

The Home Office confirmed the Taser XRep was subject to testing by its scientific development branch. "However," it added, "legally, police forces have discretion to use any equipment they see fit as long as the use of force is lawful, reasonable and proportionate."

Moat, a 37-year-old former nightclub bouncer evaded police all last week after three shootings. He was suspected of killing his former partner Samantha Stobbart's boyfriend, Chris Brown, and injuring her, in Birtley, Gateshead on 3 July.

Within 24 hours, he declared "war" on police and shot PC David Rathband, 42, a married father of two, in his patrol car in East Denton, Newcastle, before going to ground and finally emerging in the Northumberland village of Rothbury.

Reynolds told the inquest: "At 1.12am [on Saturday], Mr Moat's shotgun discharged, resulting in him receiving fatal injuries. At some point around the same time of the fatal shot, two West Yorkshire firearms officers armed with Tasers discharged their weapons at Mr Moat. This was understood to have been in an effort to prevent Mr Moat taking his own life."

Moat died in hospital at 2.22am.

Reynolds said that at this stage "the precise sequence of events regarding the discharge of the Taser has not been established and is under investigation".


A member of the public spotted Moat in the Riverside park area of Rothbury at 7.25pm on Friday and called police. Armed police and negotiators were deployed "to achieve a peaceful outcome".

The IPCC said Moat held a sawn-off shotgun to his own head and the focus of its investigation would be the final hours of his life until his death in hospital.

It will also look at how Northumbria police handled intelligence from Durham Prison warning that Moat would harm Stobbart.

No family members were in court as the inquest was adjourned.

IPCC investigators have already conducted house-to-house enquiries and will obtain evidence from senior officers and the negotiators.

The investigation will look at the command strategy to see if lessons can be learned. It will consider the acquisition, use, operational authorisation and deployment of the XRep Tasers.

Today police confirmed that three men had been arrested for allegedly assisting an offender after raids at two addresses in Newcastle and Gateshead. It brings the total number of arrests in connection with Moat to 10.Two men have appeared before magistrates in Newcastle and were remanded in custody until July 22 when they will appear at the city's crown court on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a firearm. Five others have been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

The family of victim Chris Brown issued a statement today via police. His mother, Sally, described him as a livewire who always had a smile on his face. "Christopher was always there and could be depended on 100%," she said. His sister, Becky Njie, said: "I feel broken. Moat has killed not only my brother who I loved very much, but has killed a part of me. I don't feel complete, I feel as though someone has cut off my arm. People say time is a healer, but I can't see that yet. I feel lost, I feel like it's not real."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/13...aser-trial