X-ray horror shows 200 pellets blasted into skull of PC blinded by Raoul Moat



These horrific X-rays show more than 200 shotgun pellets fired into the head of PC David Rathband by fugitive killer Raoul Moat.

The father-of-two lost the sight in both eyes after he was blasted in the face at close range as he sat in his patrol car.

These astonishing X-rays reveal the horrifying impact of more than 200 shotgun pellets fired into the head of PC David Rathband by Raoul Moat. The image on the left is taken looking up from under the police officer's chin while the other (right) is a side-on photograph



Doctors have said much of the shrapnel which peppered his face will stay in his body for the rest of his life.

Pc Rathband has released the hospital pictures to show the extent of injuries he received when Moat, 37, fired at him.

'The doctors cannot understand why I did not die. They said I must have suffered some sort of trauma as a child which has given me a stronger skull'

The 42-year-old said doctors were shocked the pellets had not penetrated his skull and would have killed him had they hit his brain.

'The doctors cannot understand why I did not die,' he said.

'They said I must have suffered some sort of trauma as a child which has given me a stronger skull.'

As a 12-year-old he fell while playing cricket at school and was knocked out.

'Where my head hit was exactly where I got shot,' he said.

'The fall must have allowed my head to grow an abnormal amount of bone.'

The Northumbria PC said he has started to collect the hundreds of pieces of shrapnel which are continuing to emerge from his skin, 11 weeks after he was attacked.

He was shot as he sat in a marked patrol car on a roundabout west of Newcastle on July 4.

PC Rathband (right) has released the X-rays to show the extent of injuries he received when Moat (left) blasted him at close range as he sat in a marked police car



The shooting took place just a day after Moat fired at his ex-lover, Sam Stobbart, and executed her new boyfriend, Chris Brown.

He killed himself a week later following a stand-off with armed police in Rothbury, Northumberland. Pc Rathband has spoken in detail of his nightmares following his ordeal and announced the launch of his charity, the Blue Lamp Foundation. He has pledged to raise £1million to help other emergency service staff hurt in the line of duty and has started raising money for the cause. The officer, with ten years' service, is also determined to return to work for Northumbria Police despite his injuries.







