The twin brother of tragic traffic cop David Rathband has vowed not to watch the forthcoming drama based on the hunt for killer Raoul Moat.
PC Rathband was shot in the face and blinded by the fugitive gunman as he sat in his patrol car in Newcastle, 24 hours after Moat's rampage began in 2010. The father-of-two never recovered from the injuries and trauma and he took his own life two years later.
ITV confirmed last week that filming had begun on a new drama series about the search for Moat, which became one of the biggest manhunt in British policing history.
Read more: Raoul Moat Special Report: A man on the run
But today PC Rathband's brother has told how he will not be watching the programme, entitled The Hunt for Raoul Moat. And Darren Rathband has urged others to remember the names of the victims, not the killer.
The 54-year-old said: "We as a family do not need any other reminders of what happened in 2010. David loss gives us a painful reminder everyday. If it’s based on facts and not fiction, the story remains the same.
"I don’t watch them, don’t need to and never will. I sadly lived being involved in it."
Moat’s deadly rampage began during the early hours of July 3, 2010, when the 37-year-old former doorman blasted his ex Samantha Stobbart with a shotgun before shooting and killing her new partner Christopher Brown.
Then less than 24 hours after the shootings, in Birtley, Moat crept up on PC Rathband as he sat in his marked traffic car and shot him twice in the face.
The then-42-year-old survived the horrific attack by playing dead lying in a pool of blood in his car. And PC Rathband even found the strength and courage to radio for help and pass on invaluable information to his force as it continued to hunt Moat.
But the gun attack, which happened on a roundabout over the A1 in Newcastle, left PC Rathband, who lived in Blyth, blind.
In the months that followed, PC Rathband courageously battled his appalling injuries, inspiring a nation with his determination to return to the job he loved, while also setting up a charity to help other stricken emergency services personnel.
He won a Daily Mirror Pride of Britain award for his bravery and wrote an autobiography.
But in 2011, after Moat’s accomplices, Karl Ness and Qhuram Awan, were jailed for their roles in his shooting PC Rathband separated from his wife of 20 years Kath after she discovered her husband had been having an affair with a 7/7 bombing survivor.
Then on February 29, 2012, he took his own life.
Darren, who lives in Australia hopes that television viewers will remember Moat as a coward and think of his victims while watching the series.
He added: "Victims of crime are often forgotten by the names of the cowards that carry out despicable acts of violence towards others.
"This event and actions by a coward are no different. The public should remember the names of those effected by violence, those who are no longer here to be heard. Instead of the names of those who commit these heinous crimes."
However, ITV says The Hunt for Raoul Moat does explore the human tragedies behind the dramatic manhunt.
It says drama, produced by the makers of Line of Duty, focuses on the innocent victims of Moat’s crimes, Christopher Brown, Samantha Stobbart and PC David Rathband.
Scriptwriter, Kevin Sampson, said: “The hunt for Raoul Moat gripped me from the start, as it was the first such case to be covered ‘live’ by the new 24-hour news channels in the UK. Even then, it interested me that Moat was being portrayed by some as a ‘legend’ in spite of the brutality of his crimes.
"In 2022, violence against women remains rife and is all too often accompanied by a victim-blaming agenda. I hope this drama will go some way to condemning this narrative.”
And Simon Heath and Jake Lushington, commenting on on behalf of producers World Productions, added: "Kevin has written a compelling and unflinching account of these shocking events which highlights the human tragedy behind the lurid headlines. The drama is a timely reminder of how social media and fake news can create a dangerous myth, in this case that Raoul Moat was any kind of hero.”
