Raoul Moat's speaks out over accomplice trial

Mar 20 2011 by Sophie Doughty, Sunday Sun

ANGUS Moat has branded the trial of his brother’s accomplices as the "trial of a dead man", claiming the henchmen are paying for the gunman’s crimes.

Raoul Moat’s older brother Angus, 40, also described the massive jail sentences handed to Karl Ness and Qhuram Awan this week as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

The pair were convicted of helping Moat during his July gun rampage and are now beginning a total of 60 years behind bars.

But Angus, who lives in Newcastle, believes the judge at Newcastle Crown Court – who ordered Ness to serve a minimum of 40 years and Awan 20 years – was simply trying to make an example of them.

And he believes that had his brother not shot PC David Rathband, an on duty police officer, his accomplices sentences would have been nowhere as long.

"I just feel the sentences are obscene," he said.

"They have been used as whipping boys in a show trial.

"This was not the trial of Karl Ness and Qhuram Awan – it was the trial of my brother Raoul Moat, and now they are paying for his crimes.

"There were a lot of people who wanted to see Raoul in the dock.

"This was the trial of a dead man, which is a first in legal history."

Raoul Moat, 37, became a household name after his gun rampage on July 3, last year.

It was during the early hours of that Saturday morning that the former bouncer travelled to Birtley, Gateshead, with a loaded shotgun and killed Chris Brown, 29, before turning his weapon on his ex Samantha Stobbart and shooting the 22-year-old through a window.

Then, less than 24 hours later, the fugitive called Northumbria Police to declare war on the force before sneaking up on traffic officer PC Rathband.

The attack at the roundabout between the A1 and the A69 in Newcastle left the 42-year-old blind.