Trial date set for Pc Rathband family's legal dispute

A trial date has been set for a legal dispute between the family of Raoul Moat victim Pc David Rathband and Northumbria Police.

Five years ago Mr Rathband was blasted twice by the crazed gunman 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.

He went on to set up the Blue Lamp Foundation to help injured 999 workers but in February 2012, the 44-year-old father-of Ash and Mia killed himself at his home in Blyth, Northumberland.

At a hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, a date of of January 12 was agreed between the representatives from the family and the force.

Earlier this year, on the anniversary of Moat's rampage, his twin brother 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.