Twin brother of policeman shot by Raoul Moat: 'He was shot by a coward'

PC Rathband's brother on five years after Raoul Moat. Credit: PA

The grieving twin brother of the police officer shot and blinded by gunman Raoul Moat says his family are still waiting for justice five years later.

It was on July 4 2010 that PC David Rathband was finishing his shift in a marked patrol car when he was blasted twice by the shotgun-wielding maniac who had declared war on police minutes before.

He clung on for life but lost the sight in both eyes after being peppered with hundreds of shotgun pellets in the face.

PC Rathband, a traffic officer who loved his job, poured himself into starting the Blue Lamp Foundation to help injured 999 workers, wrote a book about his experiences and became a national figure.

But his marriage ended and his life fell apart as he struggled to cope with the devastating consequences of losing his sight in such a traumatic way.

And in February 2012, the 44-year-old father-of Ash and Mia killed himself at his home in Blyth, Northumberland.

Raoul Moat shot himself after a six-hour standoff with police. Credit: PA

Family members are in the process of taking legal action against his employer, and his twin Darren said they were still "fighting for acknowledgement that David was let down".

It has previously been said that the force did not do enough to warn staff that Moat had told a 999 call handler he was hunting for officers on the night PC Rathband was shot.

Northumbria Police said the case will go to court in the New Year.

PC Rathband's twin brother Darren. Credit: PA

Darren, who lives in Australia, said: "As a family we obviously reflect on past events that had such a tragic outcome for David.

"David, like so many other people, was just doing his job. As an unarmed traffic officer he was single crewed and no threat to anyone.

"Yet he was left fighting for his life, and his independence was taken that day by a coward.

"Although the 4th of July is an important date, for us the significant anniversary is the day David left us and we lost a very special man."

The scene where the tragedy happened. Credit: PA

Moat was wanted having shot his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and murdered her new love Chris Brown in Birtley, Gateshead, the night before.

After leaving PC Rathband for dead on a roundabout above the A1 in Newcastle, he hid in Rothbury, Northumberland, for days sparking the biggest police manhunt for years.

Famously, footballer Paul Gascoigne turned up trying to help the situation, claiming he knew the ex-bouncer.

Moat's accomplices Karl Ness and Qhuram Awan were jailed for a minimum of 40 and 20 years respectively in 2012.