Raoul Moat victim was unlawfully killed

An inquest into the death of Chris Brown, who was in a relationship with Raoul Moat’s ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, has ruled that he was killed unlawfully, but that the police were unaware of the precise risk Moat presented.

After his release from prison in July 2010, Moat shot and seriously injured Ms Stobbart and killed Mr Brown, before going on to shoot and blind PC David Rathband while on an armed rampage. Moat later killed himself after a police standoff.

Both the police and prison services were aware Moat had made threats to his ex-girlfriend while in prison.

A prison officer told the inquest that he informed his superiors of Moat’s intentions but no action was taken.

However, Newcastle Coroner Terence Brown said “the precise risk he presented was not known” to the authorities.

Chief Superintendent Neil Adamson of Northumbria Police said: “HM Coroner has acknowledged that the actions of the police officers involved did not in any way cause or contribute to the death of Christopher Brown.

“The information we received from Durham Prison on Friday, July 2, 2010, (the day after Moat was released) was limited and did not indicate any real or immediate threat to life. At no point did it state that Moat had a gun or had threatened to kill Christopher Brown, Samantha Stobbart or anyone else.

“One person was responsible for Christopher’s murder, Raoul Moat. Moat chose his path and planned his actions with meticulous detail. He alone decided to murder and to threaten the lives of the public and police officers. There was nothing known to the police to predict his extreme actions. No one else was responsible for that and we believe nothing would have stopped him.”

Sally Brown, Mr Brown’s mother, said: “Christopher’s death has been horrendous for the whole of our family, it has been hell. I hope that no one else in the future should have to go through what we have gone through.”