When it comes to true-crime dramas, there is no shortage of shows to watch on TV at the moment, but the latest offering from ITV, The Hunt For Raoul Moat, promises to be one with a difference given that the tragic events only happened 13 years ago.
It's likely that most viewers will remember former bodyguard Raoul Moat going on a terrifying killing spree after being released from Durham Prison where he had served an 18-week sentence for assault.
Armed with a gun, Moat then tracked down his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, who survived the shooting but was left with life-altering injuries. Sadly her boyfriend Chris Brown was killed in cold blood after he tried to protect Samantha.
The third victim, traffic officer David Rathband, survived his shooting but remained in hospital for nearly three weeks and was permanently blinded before sadly dying by suicide in February 2012.
But what was Paul Gascoigne's involvement in Moat's police hunt and will he appear in the ITV drama adaptation? Here's everything you need to know...
How was Gazza involved in Raoul Moat's police hunt?
Following the shootings, Moat went on the run and soon a manhunt involving 160 armed officers, sniper teams, helicopters and even TV survival expert Ray Mears began.
Eventually, Moat was tracked down in a National Trust estate near Rothbury, Northumberland a week later and was soon surrounded by armed police who attempted to talk him down.
Moat, who had a gun to his head, was offered food and water in an attempt to get him to surrender and his best friend Tony Laidler was even brought in to try and talk Moat down.
After a long standoff, Moat eventually took his own life, but before this happened, a bizarre turn of events occurred when former footballing legend Paul Gascoigne, aka Gazza, turned up at the crime scene wearing a dressing gown and carrying a fishing rod and claiming to be a good friend of Moat's and that they had gone to school together.
Was Paul Gascoigne a friend of Raoul Moat?
No, despite Gazza's claims that he and Raoul Moat were friends, the pair had never met before.
According to the Independent, Gazza is thought to have told the police: “I guarantee, Moaty, he won’t shoot me. I am good friends with him,” but despite his claims, he was denied access to Moat and told to go home.
Talking to Real Radio Northwest on the same day, Gascoigne explained: “I went down with a can of lager, some chicken, a mobile phone and something to keep warm. I am willing to help him. I have come all the way from Newcastle to Rothbury to find him, have a chat with him.”
Is Gazza in ITV's Raoul Moat drama?
No, no one has been cast to play footballer Paul Gascoigne in The Hunt For Raoul Moat.
At the time of Moat's killing spree, Gazza's appearance at the crime scene made headlines but, other than a brief mention in the ITV drama, the former England icon's unexpected cameo will not be featured in The Hunt for Raoul Moat.
Executive producer Jake Lushington explained: “The surprise, brief and not very successful intervention from someone famous became a big story at the time but it didn’t change the events at all. We’ve referred to it, but it’s got nothing to do with the story we’re trying to tell.”
How to watch The Hunt For Raoul Moat
The Hunt For Raoul Moat is a three-part series that starts on ITV1 on Sunday, April 16 at 9 pm.
The subsequent episodes will then be shown at the same time on Monday, April 17 and Tuesday, April 18.
