Raoul Moat is dead long live Raoul Moat

When I was told this morning Raoul Moat was dead I felt an inexplicable feeling of loss.And if the screams heard after the gunshot was the police negotiator so did he.But now Raoul Moat will go down in folklore for ever in a way he never could have had he lived and gone to trial.In a manhunt that lasted a week Moat evaded police,the SAS and RAF after shooting and injuring his ex partner and then killing her lover,who Moat believed was the police officer that had sent him to prison at a previous time.Police denied this but twice on Sky news it has been reported "Moat killed a police officer".

Had Raoul Moat lived and been arrested it would have made one of the most sensational court cases in UK history as the country was divided about Raoul Moat. But that was sadly not to be, The country will be the worse for it as many good things would have come from airing it.But now there will only be speculation.The first conspiracy theory question asked will be did the police shoot him? I will not have been the first to pose that question this morning.And the snarling photographs of armed police will not help their case,with one clip of film an armed officer orders a cameraman away and then takes aim at him.No doubt in the next days these will turn up on sites like Youtube

Raoul Moat who took on the police,SAS and RAF in his fight for justice is dead but Raoul Moat will never die.