Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne’s bizarre involvement in The Hunt for Raoul Moat

Former England footballer doesn’t appear in ITV’s true-crime drama, but played a surprising role in Britain’s biggest manhunt

The Hunt for Raoul Moat has reignited public interest in Britain’s biggest manhunt – and Paul Gascoigne’s bizarre involvement in the case.

ITV’s newest true crime drama focuses on the July 2010 hunt by Northumbria Police for Moat, a former bouncer and bodybuilder who shot three people – his ex-girlfriend, her new partner, and a police officer – two days after he was released from Durham Prison.

What followed was a week-long manhunt, involving 160 armed officers (10 per cent of those available in England and Wales at any one time). Sniper teams, helicopters and TV survival expert Ray Mears were also involved in the search. Read the full true story here.

On 9 July, Moat was tracked to a National Trust estate near Rothbury, Northumberland, with police surrounding him while he held a gun to his neck. In an attempt to make him surrender, food and water were reportedly offered to Moat, while his best friend Tony Laidler was brought in to attempt to talk Moat down.

Here, we arrive at former England footballer, Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne’s, involvement in the story. Gascoigne also turned up at the crime scene, wearing a dressing gown and carrying a fishing rod, and attempted to gain access to Moat by claiming to be a “good friend” of the fugitive.

“I guarantee, Moaty, he won’t shoot me. I am good friends with him,” he told police, but was denied access.

Talking to Real Radio Northwest that day, Gascoigne explained that he’d gone down with “a can of lager, some chicken, a mobile phone and something to keep warm”.

Gascoigne in 2010 (AFP via Getty Images)

“He is willing to give in now. I just want to give him some therapy and say, ‘Come on Moaty, it’s Gazza.’ He is alright – simple as that – and I am willing to help him. I have come all the way from Newcastle to Rothbury to find him, have a chat with him.”

News of Gascoigne’s attempt only reached his agent Kenny Shepherd after the event, who told press at the time: “He’s doing what? I am sitting having an evening meal in Majorca. I’m speechless.”

In the early hours of the next morning, shots were heard, with Moat sustaining a gunshot wound. A coroner ruled the following week that Moat had died by suicide, after shooting himself in the head.

Gascoigne’s involvement in the Moat story will not feature in The Hunt for Raoul Moat, with executive producer Jake Lushington explaining: “The surprise, brief and not very successful intervention from someone famous became a big story at the time but it didn’t change the events at all. We’ve referred to it, but it’s got nothing to do with the story we’re trying to tell.”

In 2015, Gascoigne claimed that he had been on a cocaine and alcohol binge nearby, and convinced himself he and Moat were “good buddies” and “went to school together”.

Police on the hunt for Moat in 2010 (AFP via Getty Images)

After travelling to the crime scene and being told to “just go home” by an officer, he went back and woke up unable to remember the previous night’s events.

“I was like, what have I done? I’ve got a chicken by my side, fishing rods, a Barbour, I’m like f*** me I must have done something,” he said. “I turn on Sky News – Paul Gascoigne was there last night.”

Before the first shooting, Moat had served an 18-week sentence for assaulting a nine-year-old family member, with Durham Prison telling Northumbria police before his release that Moat intended to harm his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart.

Stobbart survived the attack, but her boyfriend Chris Brown was killed. The third victim, David Rathband, survived his shooting the following day but was permanently blinded and died by suicide in February 2012.

ITV’s The Hunt for Raoul Moat focuses on the victims of Moat’s crimes, with Sally Messham playing Stobbart and Josef Davis playing Brown, while Matt Stokoe portrays Moat himself. Lee Ingleby stars as senior Northumbria Police Officer Neil Adamson.

The Hunt for Raoul Moat airs Sunday 16 April at 9pm on ITV.