The ex-girlfriend of vicious gunman Raoul Moat continues to face social media abuse to this day, according to her sister.
Samantha Stobbart met Moat aged 16, but never anticipated the nightmare he would put her through when he embarked on a killing spree fuelled by vengeance and jealousy. In the six years they spent together, the Mirror reports, Moat fathered her child before murdering her new boyfriend after she falsely claimed he was a police officer.
More than a decade on from the horrific shootings in July 2010, ITV has dramatised the six-day manhunt in a three-part drama. Those behind The Hunt For Raoul Moat say the show aims to tell the story of the victims – but they have been accused of glorifying his crimes.
Who is Samantha Stobbart?
Samantha met Moat in 2004 after being set up with him by school friends. Two years later, they had a daughter named Chanel.
Samantha's half-sister Kelly said the six-year-long relationship was mired in domestic violence and controlling behaviour, with Moat leaving her on several occasions. While the bodybuilder was in Durham Prison for assault in 2010, she began seeing karate instructor Chris Brown, 29.
In a bid to protect herself from Moat, she had lied and claimed Brown was a police officer. She later said Moat had a "Jekyll and Hyde split personality", adding that she was "very worried, frightened, really scared" about what he would do when he was released from prison.
She told an inquest: "I expected he would flip his lid and that there would be trouble; he'd come looking for Chris. I had told him the relationship was at an end but he would not have it. He would not take no for an answer."
Moat became obsessed with the fact that Samantha was seeing a new man and wanted what he disgustingly described as "vengeance". He would soon enact it, with deadly consequences, upon his release from jail.
What happened to Samantha Stobbart?
On July 3 2010, two days after being released from prison, Moat arrived at a friend's house where Samantha and Chris were staying. As Brown stepped outside to confront Moat, the killer blasted him at close range with a sawn-off shotgun, killing him instantly.
Moat then shot Samantha through the window of the house, hitting her in the arm and abdomen. She was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead and placed under armed guard as she fought for her life.
Kelly later told the Mirror: "We were thinking she could die - and that nutter Moat was still on the run." A day later Moat, 37, shot and blinded PC David Rathband, then 44, as he sat in his patrol car in Newcastle.
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On July 5, Samantha was declared to be recovering and she left hospital 12 days later. She issued a direct appeal to Moat as she lay in bed recuperating.
She said: "Please give yourself up. If you still loved me and our baby you would not be doing this."
But shortly after 1am on July 10, a week after he went on the run, Moat shot himself in the head with a shotgun after a six-hour stand-off with armed police in Rothbury, Northumberland. The manhunt had captured the attention of the country as Moat evaded capture – including a surreal moment in which Paul Gascoigne arrived at the scene, offering to help convince Moat to surrender.
Samantha told her family at the time: "My daughter's lost her dad. I wanted to see him again and ask why he did this to me. I just can't understand what's happened."
What has Samantha said about the shooting?
Speaking to the News of the World in 2010, Samantha recalled the moment Moat appeared at the window of the house and opened fire. She said she could remember the moment he pulled the trigger, sending sparks flying off of the firearm.
She said: "There was nothing I could do against a madman with a gun. I had to get back to the house to make sure my baby daughter Chanel was safe.
"I saw the sparks flying off Raoul's gun as he shot me. Then I was on the floor with blood pumping out everywhere."
On 29 February, 2012, PC David Rathband was found dead at his home in a suspected suicide, after struggling to come to terms with his blindness. He had been due to carry the Olympic Torch as part of the 2012 summer Olympics relay.
Samantha later said of the officer's death: "I just kept thinking to myself - that's another life that Raoul's taken away. Even when he's dead, he is still hurting people.
"I'm the only one left now. Sometimes I think this will only be finished when I die.
"I can't imagine how horrible it must be to lose your sight. But I do have an inkling of how he must have felt.
"I know how low I have felt and there were lots of times when I thought about suicide. I just thought 'I can't do this any more'.
"But then I've got my little girl, and I would look at her and remember why I had to live. If I had lost my eyesight and couldn't see her, I don't think I'd be here either."
The 24-year-old was left scarred and traumatised by her horrific experience and said she had become scared of the dark. She confided that darkness took her back to the terrifying events of July 3 2010.
She added: "All I have to do is shut my eyes and I'm there. Chris is lying on the grass, dead. And Raoul is outside.
"He has a dead look on his eyes, like the lights are on but no one is there. But that isn't the only reason I'm scared of the dark.
"There are hundreds of people out there who blame me. That's why we have moved three times in two years, why I'm now living with my parents, and why I'm always looking over my shoulder. I think I'll be doing that for the rest of my life."
Samantha found herself "wrapping Chanel up in cotton wool" afterwards, and admitted: "Without my daughter, I wouldn't have lasted this long. She is getting older now, and she does ask lots of questions.
"I always try to be honest with her without being too blunt with the facts. The other day we were in the bank and she pointed at my rib and said, 'Mummy, is that where Daddy shot you?' In the end I had to say yes.
"I'm lucky that Raoul never spent any time with her, so she doesn't remember him. She only knows his face because his photo was on the news.
"She used to think Chris was her dad. I told her he is a star in the sky now, so whenever there is a dark night, she'll point out a star and say, 'Mammy, is that Chris?'
"It always makes me cry. When she is older I will explain that Raoul was her dad, and show her the newspaper clippings. But it won't be easy."
Samantha has covered all three of her gunshot wounds with tattoos: a bright butterfly, an extract from the poem Footsteps and a cross dedicated to Chris. However, she was barred from attending his funeral by his grieving family.
She said in 2012 of the karate instructor: "I can't imagine finding anyone else who compares to him. I send him poems and letters. Losing him has changed my life forever.
"I know what happened will haunt me forever, and I'll never forget it 100 percent. But now I'm just trying to move on.
"If I start putting myself in the position of a victim then Raoul has won, and I don't want to let him win anymore. I'm going to get through this and not let him hurt me anymore."
Where is Samantha Stobbart now?
Samantha has not spoken to the press since giving an interview to the Mirror in 2012. Her current whereabouts are not known.
However, the news of the ITV dramatisation has brought back the trauma experienced by her and her family. And half-sister Kelly says she continues to be the target of abuse on social media to this day.
Kelly told the Mirror recently: "We're lucky our Sam survived. ITV don't realise the impact this will have on the people involved.
"It still gives me nightmares and I suffer PTSD. I'm so sick of hearing Raoul's name, and I'm so sick of him being on TV.
"I hate seeing his face on social media and then having to read all the comments people make about Sam. So many people blame her for what happened on social media and troll her. This is something we can never forget but we would like to move on from it."
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