The latest episode of ITV’s The Hunt for Raoul Moat has left viewers shocked after it depicted drunken anti-police chants.
The controversial four-part series documents Moat’s seven-day murderous spree in July 2010, which saw him evade the police for days, after murdering Christopher Brown, 29, and seriously injuring his ex-partner Samantha Stobbart and PC David Rathband.
Rathband died by suicide 20 months after losing his sight in the attack.
The second installment of the ITV crime drama, which first aired on Sunday and reaches a crescendo on Wednesday, featured scenes set in a Newcastle pub, which showed revellers ‘hero worshipping’ Moat’s crimes, and his ongoing threats during the stand-off to kill police officers.
Former detective chief superintendent Neil Adamson, played by Lee Ingleby, is seen nursing a pint after a difficult day of press conferences as the manhunt continues.
A scene in the latest episode of ITV series The Hunt for Raoul Moat featured depicts former detective chief superintendent Neil Adamson, played by Lee Ingleby, in a Newcastle pub where chants in support of Raoul Moat’s war against the police can be heard
However, he soon deserts his drink when he realises a rousing chant in support of Moat has begun at the bar.
The revellers are shown raising their arms and their glasses and singing ‘Raoul Moat, he’s our mate, he’s our mate, he’s our mate, he kills coppers’.
Viewers watching the series at home found the depiction of Moat’s cult status as a ‘hero’ difficult to watch.
On Twitter, @Queenie_2312 wrote: ‘I’m literally shocked people were praising Raoul Moat like this and singing songs glorifying him killing coppers ! Absolute madness and so disgusting. I hope those people are ashamed #TheHuntforRaoulMoat.’
@ErinWhittingham added: ‘It’s just gross.’
Revellers in the shocking scene are heard chanting repeatedly ‘Raoul Moat, he’s our mate, he’s our mate, he’s our mate, he kills coppers’.
The ex-head of Northumbria CID is seen slumping in his chair at the chants – before he leaves the pub
The scenes documenting the support for Moat left many viewers angry, saying those who praised Moat for his 2010 crime spree should be ‘ashamed’
@FreemanKim7 wrote: ‘Sick society we live in. Just disgusting to glorify this vile man.’
In real life, the detective who led the police manhunt for the crazed gun slammed people who ‘worshipped’ Moat ahead of the ITV drama about the case airing.
Ex-head of Northumbria CID Adamson said the gunman was a ‘controlling and deranged misogynistic bully’ and addressed the support he received from some 30,000 people who liked a Facebook page named ‘RIP Raoul Moat You Legend’.
He added: ‘The vast majority of the public were on our side and the local community was fantastic.
Former detective chief superintendent Neil Adamson, the ex-head of Northumbria CID, says the series should have focused on the victims and not the shotgun-wielding killer
Notorious gunman Raoul Moat, who died in 2010 following a shooting spree
‘The hero worship was absolutely bizarre, because the series shows how controlling and deranged he was, a misogynistic bully. Samantha was 16 when 31-year-old Moat met her.
‘He dominated her and had to know everything about her. How can anybody be in awe of an individual like that?’
Adamson held lengthy talks with about his experiences with actor Lee Ingleby prior to filming.
He told Radio Times that, although he is not critical of the series, he queried the decision to focus on Moat over his ‘poor individual victims’.
The former police chief, who retired seven years ago, said: ‘I flew down to London a couple of times during the investigation to see Christopher’s mother and she was incredibly dignified. I’ll never forget visiting David in hospital, his determination to recover and move on.
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‘But I always thought it would be dramatised, because it was an exceptional event – the biggest manhunt in policing history, over a full week, that engaged the whole country.’
Moat launched his terrifying campaign of violence on July 3, 2010, following his release from an 18-week jail sentence for assault two days earlier.
Matt Stokoe (pictured), takes on the role of the crazed gun killer in The Hunt for Raoul Moat
He arrived at the home of his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart’s mother with a sawn-off shotgun after she claimed she had entered into an affair with a police officer in an attempt to keep him away.
But this fuelled his rage and hatred for the law, leading to Moat blaming the police for his life falling apart.
Moat then killed her new boyfriend, karate instructor Mr Brown, outside before shooting his ex-girlfriend in the stomach through a window and fleeing the property in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
He had been waiting for an hour for his moment to strike, texting his accomplice Karl Ness who was parked up nearby.
But Ness fled the scene, leaving Moat stranded.
He then went on to declare ‘war’ on the police, shooting and blinding unarmed traffic officer PC David Rathband in a senseless attack. The officer later took his own life following his injuries.
Moat’s attacks triggered a £1.4million manhunt, involving 160 armed officers – with the town of Rothbury in Northumberland placed on lockdown.
The thug was eventually cornered by armed police before a six-hour stand-off began – during which footballer Paul Gascoigne famously turned up at the site of the police stand-off with a fishing rod and chicken dinner to try and talk ‘Moaty’ round.
As negotiators attempted to get Moat to put down his weapon, the crazed killer shot himself in the head at 1.10am on July 10. Moments before, he had been tasered by officers, who had attempted to stop him from taking his own life.
After killing one person and wounding two others in a two-day shooting spree, Raoul Moat (pictured) managed to evade the police for days by camping out in the Northumbrian countryside
The seven-day search for the gunman in July 2010 – which was the biggest manhunt in modern British history and made headlines around the world – is the focus of the ITV crime drama. Pictured, Lee Ingleby as Neil Adams, Vineeta Rishi as Nisha Roberts and Sonya Cassidy as Diane Barnwell
