BBC NEWS – LONDON – Prime Minister David Cameron has said there should be no sympathy for gunman Raoul Moat.
He told the House of Commons Moat was a “callous murderer” and all public sympathy should be for his victims. Mr Cameron was speaking after flowers were left at the scene of Moat’s death in Northumberland and messages of sympathy to him were left on Facebook.
On Wednesday, police arrested three men on suspicion of assisting an offender. A total of 13 people have now been arrested in connection with the Moat inquiry.
‘Cannot understand’
He is believed to have shot Samantha Stobbart, 22, killed her partner Chris Brown and injured Pc David Rathband. The gunman went on the run and apparently shot himself in Rothbury on Saturday. Speaking during Prime Minister’s Question Time, Mr Cameron said: “It is absolutely clear that Raoul Moat was a callous murderer, full stop, end of story.
“I cannot understand any wave, however small, of public sympathy for this man. “There should be sympathy for his victims and the havoc he wreaked in that community.
“There should be no sympathy for him.”
Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris asked him to contact Facebook requesting the RIP Raoul Moat group page, which he described as carrying a “whole host of anti-police statements” be taken down. Mr Cameron said he was making a “very good point”.
As well as tributes posted online, flowers and cards have been left outside Moat’s home in Fenham, Newcastle, and at the scene of his death in Rothbury. Of the 13 people arrested, three men were arrested in raids in Gateshead and Newcastle on Tuesday.
Four men and a woman held on suspicion of assisting an offender are currently on police bail. Two other men have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and possessing a firearm with intent. The hunt for Moat began on 3 July after he was suspected of shooting Ms Stobbart and Mr Brown in Birtley, near Gateshead.
Pc Rathband was shot the following day in East Denton as he sat in his patrol car. After a week on the run, Moat was discovered armed with a shotgun on the banks of the River Coquet at about 1900 BST on Friday.
Armed police cornered him and negotiators were brought in to speak to him.
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