Prison cellmate saw sick Raoul Moat’s anger

Aug 1 2010 by Laura Caroe, Sunday Sun

THE prison cell-mate of deranged gunman Raoul Moat has spoken of his shock after his friend turned from a “gentle giant” into a monster.

Nathan Flynn shared a cell with the body-building brute, just weeks before he went on the rampage, shooting his ex Samantha Stobbart, gunning down her new boyfriend Chris Brown and blinding PC David Rathband.

Prison pal Nathan, 26, was banged up in Durham Prison after a sickening attack on cancer sufferer Alan Marshall, 27, who was left with a fractured skull and unable to move without his false right leg.

Nathan, who has recently been released from jail, said that days before Moat declared war on the police and went on the run, the dad-of-three had shown a flash of aggression after a phone call with Samantha.

Moat, a tree surgeon, eventually lost the plot after he was told Samantha had fallen for a cop.

Nathan, of Easterside, Middlesbrough, said: “About three weeks before he got out I heard him on the phone and he was not happy. I think that was when she told him she was leaving him. That was the only time I ever saw him aggressive and angry.

“He just slammed the phone down and then played a game of pool.

“He didn’t tell anyone what it was about. He was obviously keeping problems inside until he got out.

“He didn’t mention anything about what had gone on, but he was getting letters off Samantha, some were bad and some were good.

“She came and visited him a couple of times. You could always tell as he would be anxious.

“Samantha must have been playing with his head.

“One person told me that he had some business to sort out when he got out of jail but that could have meant anything.”

Despite the single moment of madness Nathan saw, he was floored when he heard that the former bouncer, who he described as a “good guy” was on the run. He said: “What he did outside shocked me in comparison to what he was like inside.

“There are lots of bad rumours going around, but in prison he was a totally different guy. When I got out of there he was in the middle of the gun rampage and it was not the Raoul Moat I knew. It hit me hard.

“Raoul was kind and caring, he helped people who couldn’t handle being banged up.”