Fugitive killer draws up 'Facebook hitlist': Police protection for targets of crazed gunman at centre of nationwide manhunt

Huge manhunt to catch armed suspect continues into third day

Claims he has posted a hitlist on Facebook

He had threatened to kill ex when he got out of jail

Police told on Friday he may hurt ex-lover but did nothing



She begs: 'If you still love me and our baby, give yourself up'



Detectives have handwritten letter apparently from gunman

Armed police seize man buying chocolate by mistake

The ex-girlfriend of crazed killer Raoul Moat has pleaded with him to give himself up for the sake of their child.

Moat is on the run after allegedly shooting Sam Stobbart, her new lover and a policeman in cold blood after he was released from jail.



Today Miss Stobbart, who has a 19-month-old daughter with Moat, issued an appeal to him through the police.

She said: 'Please give yourself up. If you still love me and our baby you would not be doing this.'

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Tonight police released a picture of the officer who was allegedly shot by Moat as they stepped up a nationwide hunt for the killer.



The photo of Pc David Rathband's bloody face was made public at his own request in the hope of catching the suspect.

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The Northumbria Police officer was shot in the face and chest as he sat in his stationary patrol car on the A1/A69 roundabout in East Denton, Newcastle, on Sunday.

Today it emerged that Moat may have posted a hitlist of other targets on his Facebook page.

Miss Stobbart's sister said he has drawn up a list of potential new targets on Facebook.

It was also revealed today that police were warned Moat wanted to hurt his former lover hours before she was gunned down but did nothing to prevent his shooting spree.

Sam Stobbart 's sister Kelly, 27, said: ' I'm on it (the hitlist) and so are family members. He's said he will take out any police that get in his way.



' I'm absolutely petrified because I haven't got police protection and he's angry with me and my family. I'm really worried for my gran because she's 69-years-old and he knows where she lives.'

A former partner, with whom he has two children, and anyone who gave evidence at his trial for assault including social workers, a family liaison officer and two detectives are in police protection.

Police admitted this morning that they were warned by staff at Durham Prison, from where Moat was released on Thursday, that he planned to attack his ex-partner.



Northumbria Police temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim said: 'We were informed on Friday afternoon by Durham Prison that Mr Moat may intend to cause serious harm to his partner.

Victims: PC David Rathband had his wife and two children at his bedside, and Samantha Stobbart, who declared her love, then announced she was single again on the social networking site Facebook



'We acknowledge that it is important that these matters are investigated thoroughly, and I have voluntarily referred this aspect to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and we will, of course, fully co-operate with the Independent Police Complaints Commission.'

Because he was only in jail for two months, Moat will not have been assessed over the potential risk he might pose to others before leaving prison.



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But the revelation prison officers were aware he was a possible threat to Miss Stobbart, 22, raises questions about why she was not put in a safehouse or given an armed guard.

Moat, a former nightclub bouncer, is said to have shot his ex-girlfriend and killed her new lover Chris Brown, 29, on Saturday - just 48 hours after he was released from jail last Thursday.



He apparently blasted Miss Stobbart in the stomach with a sawn-off shotgun in revenge for dumping him while he was in prison.



Moments later, karate teacher Mr Brown was killed as he confronted Moat outside his girlfriend's mother's house in Gateshead.

Miss Stobbart had told Moat that Mr Brown was a policeman in the hope that it would deter him from coming after her on his release.

But this merely left him with a burning resentment of the police and after gunning down Mr Brown the steroid-addicted bodybuilder struck again when he shot PC David Rathband on a traffic patrol early yesterday at a roundabout in East Denton, Newcastle.



Minutes later, Moat called 999 to goad officers, telling them: 'You are not taking me seriously.'

He also taunted police on line, posting an audacious message on his Facebook page saying: 'Ha, Ha! You can come but you can't catch me!'



Today Miss Stobbart appealed to Moat.



She said: 'When you came out of jail I told you I was seeing a police officer. I said this because I was frightened. I have not been seeing a police officer.'

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Armed officers from five other forces are now helping Northumbria as it continues its manhunt for Moat. They believe he could be being protected by friends or family.

It is feared he could try to provoke marksmen into shooting him. Kelly Stobbart said he would rather 'go out in a blaze of glory' and commit 'suicide by cop' than give himself up.



Police received a handwritten letter apparently from Moat, 37, within the last 24 hours which sets out his concerns and a 'general grievance' with police.



They said it did not contain a hitlist but added that postings on Facebook are part of their investigation.

Detectives refused to give full details about what was contained in the letter from Moat for operational reasons but moved to reassure him they can help.

Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Adamson said: 'Mr Moat, we are aware that you have a number of issues and grievances - some are very private, others relate to how you feel that you have been treated by us.



'We want to understand your position and I want you to realise that you do have a future. We can only help you with this if you make contact with us directly.'

Moat is still thought to be in the North East but does have access to a vehicle so could have travelled further afield.

Det. Chief Supt. Adamson suggested people could be helping him hide out or know where he is and begged them to come forward.

' Our investigations so far lead me to believe that there are a number of people who may be aware of Mr Moat's whereabouts and movements,' he said.



'They may even have had contact with him over the weekend. We need to speak to these people and I would appeal to them to come forward.'

THE GIRL WHO JILTED HIM

On her Facebook page, Samantha Stobbart described herself as a 'yummy mummy' who was 'slim, suntanned, fun, fit and a rite laugh'.

Just a teenager when they met, she found Moat's hulking physique and reputation as a 'hard man' irresistible as their paths crossed at one of the Newcastle clubs where he worked.

They stayed together on and off for six years, but it was to be a violent and troubled relationship almost from the start.

Worried relatives lived in fear that Moat would lash out at them in one of his frequent jealous rages, and she had left him at least three times before.

However despite the regular beatings he inflicted, Miss Stobbart - who had a daughter, Chanel, now aged 19 months, with him - could not seem to tear herself away from him for good.

Instead she would take refuge from his rages at her grandmother Agnes Hornsby's home, only for Moat to insinuate his way back in through a combination of threats and pleading.

'He split her head open one night,' said Mrs Hornsby.

'He threw her against a wall and jumped on her stomach. He would come back, sweet talk her and then she'd go back. I kept telling her to leave him but she wouldn't listen.

'He always said if he couldn't have her then nobody else could.'

In January, Miss Stobbart had proclaimed her love for Moat, writing on Facebook: 'I love you, I miss you and know that I fell in love with you... I never want this feeling to pass, cause I don't want to live without you.'

But within weeks she had changed her status on Facebook to 'single'.

Having turned 22 last month, and with Moat safely locked up, relatives said she had finally decided to make a clean break from him.

Friends said social workers had told her Chanel could be taken into care if she didn't get Moat out of her life.

Shortly before his release she broke the news that she had found someone new. She had met martial arts instructor Chris Brown through a dating website and had told friends she was far happier with him than she had been with Moat.

Tragically, her decision to move on has now cost at least one life. Two weeks ago, she phoned him in jail to end their relationship, leaving Moat suicidal.

Armed police desperately hunting Moat pounced on a man who looked like him in Sunderland in front of shocked shoppers and office workers but it was a false alarm.



The man had been buying a bar of chocolate in a newsagents when police rushed in and seized him and his holdall and bundled him into a car.



A businesswoman, who refused to give her name, said: 'It was terrifying with all the guns and everything. It was something I've never seen before.



'He was walking across the road dressed in blue denim, then across from the other side of the road one policeman with a shield and a gun grabbed his bag.



'Then other policeman with guns surrounded him. The police were just calm and he was motionless. He didn't resist arrest one little bit.'



Questions are already being asked over Moat's release from jail after it emerged that he chillingly told fellow inmates days before his release: 'I'm going to kill when I get out'.



The drug addict from Newcastle, who has convictions for violence and is said to be 'full of rage', was jailed earlier this year for 18 weeks for hitting his nine-year-old.



He left Durham Prison on Thursday after serving exactly half of his sentence. Probation teams did not put him under supervision although he had previously threatened his former girlfriend at gunpoint and regularly beat her.

Hours before the shootings he posted a warning on Facebook saying: 'Just got out of jail. I've lost everything, my business, my property and to top it all off my lass of six years has gone off with the copper that sent me down.

'I'm not 21 and I can't rebuild my life. Watch and see what happens.'

The fugitive's Facebook account listed his status as: 'Moat went on the rampage the day after his release from prison. He had served 18 weeks at Durham Prison for an assault on a family member.'

Det. Chief Supt. Adamson had also appealed directly to Moat last night, saying: 'You have told us that police are not taking you seriously. I can assure you and want you to know you have our full attention. Innocent people have been hurt. This must stop now.'

PC Rathband, 42, a married father of two, was recovering in Newcastle General Hospital after being blasted through the window of his patrol car. He remained in a critical but stable condition this morning after he suffered wounds to his chest and face.

His wife Kath and their children Ashley, 16, and Mia, 12, were at his bedside.

Miss Stobbart was also in hospital under armed guard. Her half-sister, Kelly, 27, said she had been taken off life support and was able to talk to officers about the shooting at her mother and stepfather's house. She is also now out of a critical condition.



Moat blasted her through the window leaving her with stomach and arm wounds.

Horrified families were woken by screams and gunshots in the early hours of Saturday as Moat took his revenge.

Neighbour George Williamson, 50, told how his shocked son came face to face with the killer. He said: 'My boy heard the shots and went out. The man with the gun pointed it at him. Then he turned and shot the lad who was lying on the field.'



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Mr Brown recently moved to Gateshead from Slough to work as a karate instructor.

For more than 12 hours after his killing, Northumbria police refused to release Moat's name or photograph over fears that they could breach his human rights.

A local shopkeeper told yesterday how she saw Miss Stobbart in heated telephone conversation with Moat on Thursday evening.



'She came in with her little girl and the whole time she was talking angrily on her mobile phone to someone, saying things like "It's over" and "I'm not interested any more",' he said.

A police source told the Mail: 'When he was in prison he told other inmates that he was going to kill when he got out.



'He didn't say who he was going to kill - whether it was himself or other people - but he was a man hell bent on revenge. He was full of rage.'

Moat, who has never held a firearms licence, is believed to have got a gun from gangland associates just hours after coming out of jail.

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Fatal drama played out on Facebook

Facebook, the social networking site, is at the heart of this tragic saga.



Samantha Stobbart enraged Moat when she changed her status from 'relationship' to 'single' before posting another message indicating she had found someone else

Moat, still in jail at the time, responded by announcing his bloody plans for revenge on the site.

Even on the run, he used Facebook to taunt police. And yesterday thousands of people including friends, neighbours and strangers flocked to the site to discuss the crime.



Moat's profile: From Facebook yesterday



Many messages were of concern, saying: 'He lives near me, police need to get him.'

Others urged him to hand himself in. Salmah Arfan said: 'He was on my road last night. I literally got so freaked out, I called the cops.'

Some Facebook users even posted messages of support. One said: 'What a hero, would've done the same thing!'



Another said: 'Not saying what he did was rite or wrong but if i found out my missus was cheatin and the bloke was there and i had a shotty i would pull the trigger.'

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A further user wrote: 'Be careful what you write on this wall, I just had an inbox message threatening me cos I commented on something someone wrote in defence of R Moat. I have reported and blocked him but felt really intimidated and to be honest bloody frightened.'

Many Facebook users were astonished that Moat was allowed to walk free from prison without supervision despite his history of violence.

Control freak and his reign of terror: Pumped full of steroids, sword-wielding club bouncer Moat thought he was irresistible



Mug shot: Moat was well known to Northumbria Police, and he believed they victimised him

Raoul Moat is an unpredictable control freak with a violent temper who snaps without warning, say friends and family.

The 6ft-plus ex-nightclub bouncer, who is addicted to steroids and anti-depressants, is so paranoid that he wired his house up with CCTV cameras and microphones, neighbours said.

He was caught by police carrying a serrated steel knuckle duster and a terrifying 5ft long Samurai sword and has links to Newcastle gangsters.

But Samantha Stobbart was almost blind to his serious flaws, said her half sister, Kelly, 27.

'Sam thought he was the bee's knees,' she said yesterday.



'Her problem was that she could not see above Raoul's chest. He's all muscles, rippling biceps, six pack.

'He's all chest but he had a tiny waist and could fit into a pair of my size eight jeans. He thinks he's God's gift but he's the most ugly thing I have seen.'

She said Moat, a teetotaller, was incredibly vain, using steroids to enhance his figure and injecting himself with tanning drugs to stay brown.



He would also wander around the supermarket with skin-tight jeans and sleeveless t-shirts, thinking all the girls were loving it.'

Kelly said that Moat had a jealous personality and that he and Samantha would frequently row. She would then flee and stay with family members but Moat would sweet talk her into returning home.

'He'd come round and soft soap her and she'd disappear off and then we'd not hear from her for days because we knew she'd gone back to him and she knew we'd tell her she was a fool for doing it,' she said.

Samantha Stobbart's grandmother said the couple split up on a number of occasions after violent outbursts motivated by jealousy.

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Agnes Hornsby, 69, told how Moat turned up at her house in Gateshead one evening last year wielding a gun as 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 (Miss Stobbart's daughter).



'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.'

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Mrs Hornsby said she told Moat she would report him to the police, but he replied: 'If you phone the police I'll get some of them before they get me.'

Danielle Atkinson, a neighbour of Moat in Fenham, Newcastle, said: 'He was very paranoid and dead jealous. He has cameras all round the house and they pick up people's voices.'

Born in 1973, Moat was brought up by his grandmother in Newcastle's deprived West End, a few doors away from his parents, Josephine and Brian.

He went on to Stocksfield Primary School in Fenham and then Rutherford High School before leaving at 16.

After that he worked as a panel beater and a nightclub bouncer in Newcastle's notorious Bigg Market, and also set up in business as a tree surgeon named Mr Trimit.

But over the years he also became known for his links to the criminal underworld in the city and he was well known to the police. Father-of-three Tony Laidler, 35, said he had known Moat since they were children.

The pair later worked alongside each other on the doors in Newcastle until Moat lost his accreditation several years ago after being convicted of a violent crime. He had since served several prison sentences.



He also claimed his friend felt he had suffered harassment from the police.

'He felt the police would never leave him alone and that he was getting grief from all sides,' he said.

'He was so sick of the police. He said they had been round him all the time and had been for years.

'He was so angry with them that at one stage he said he'd even put cameras up on his house so he could film them if they came knocking on his door.'

But he added: 'He'll never give himself up to the police. That is the last thing he would ever do and he'll go all out to avoid being caught.



'He's been in prison enough to know that he won't want that again so he'll be away on his toes.'



Moat faced court in 2005 after he was caught carrying a serrated steel knuckle duster and a terrifying 5ft long Samurai sword.

He was stopped by police as he drove a borrowed Mitsubishi Colt through Newcastle. Officers who searched the car discovered the cobra-headed sword stashed in the boot and a eight-inch-wide, twin bladed knuckle duster hidden in a 'secret compartment' beneath the dashboard.

Moat said the sword belonged to him but denied knowing the knuckle duster was hidden beneath the dashboard and claimed it must have been put there by someone else.



He was also well known to Newcastle's Public Protection Unit. They had dealt with several domestic incidents involving Moat.

At the heart of each family dispute was his violent temper.

Kelly Stobbart added: 'He's threatened everyone in our family. He put my windows through once after arguing with Sam.'

Chillingly she warned: 'He wants a stand-off with the police, so they'll either have to shoot him in the knees or kill him.