Moat alert would have been 'foolhardy' claims former police chief

A former senior figure in Northumbria Police has told a court it would have been 'foolhardy' to issue an immediate warning to officers after threats were made by gunman Raoul Moat.

He was giving evidence in a civil claim brought by the brother and sister of PC David Rathband, who was shot and blinded by Moat.

They claim the force was negligent in failing to warn PC Rathband of the threat posed by Moat.

PC David Rathband had been sitting in his patrol car, parked above the A1 in Newcastle, when he ws shot by Raoul Moat in July 2010.

At the time, Moat was already on the run, having shot his former girlfriend and killed her new boyfriend.

This civil High Court action has heard that around ten minutes before shooting PC Rathband, Moat had telephoned police, saying he was 'hunting for officers'.

PC Rathband's brother and sister claim Northumbria Police should have made officers aware of that threat immediately, by issuing what's been described in court as 'an interim warning'.

Today the hearing heard from Jim Campbell - who is now retired - but who was temporary deputy chief constable during the hunt for Moat.

Mr Campbell told the court it would have been 'foolhardy' to issue a warning to officers 'until you'd thought it through', saying it was necessary to 'analyse the substance behind the threats.' Mr Campbell told the hearing; 'In my opinion it was not feasible for a warning to be given in that timescale'

In his evidence, Mr Campbell also said that putting out what he called 'a fairly bland warning' would have brought a flood of questions on the police radio network which could 'saturate the airwaves'.

PC Ratband was blinded and suffered other life changing injuries as a result of Moat's attack. He later took his own life.

This case will continue next week.