Police officer recalls moment he was shot and blinded by one of Britain's most evil killers

Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.

In a harrowing audio clip, a police officer recalled the moment he was shot and blinded by one of Britain’s ‘most evil killers’.

Back in July 2010, a week-long manhunt was launched for Raoul Moat, just days after he was released from prison.

The 37-year-old shot and injured his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, and shot dead her boyfriend Chris Brown in Gateshead. He then went on to shoot traffic officer PC David Rathband who was sitting in a marked patrol car.

A new Prime Video documentary, Raoul Moat: Inside the Mind of a Killer, explores the tragic and lasting consequences of the man’s anger and inner turmoil.

It includes some of Moat’s personal letters and voice recordings, including him basically waging a war with the police as he threatened to kill any officer who crossed his path.

PC David Rathband was shot in the face by Raoul Moat (Northumbria Police Federation)

Having lost his sight in both eyes as a result of the shooting, PC Rathband took his own life in 2012.

A coroner ruled he had done so because he couldn’t cope with his disability and a breakdown in his marriage.

In the documentary, it is explained that the officer wasn’t warned about Moat who ‘just wanted to shoot a police officer’.

Audio from PC Rathband explains what happened as the killer approached his car: “I looked up, and I was looking at him he just pointed the gun forward, sort of towards the car window, and then the next thing I felt was my face just explode.

“It was the noise that I heard first, it was as if my head was inside a tin can with the biggest ever firework that you could ever possibly imagine getting and then putting your head inside and shutting the lid.

“It was just absolutely unbearable. I was thrown into the footwell with the force of the blast, and then when I got back up to try and press the radio, whilst doing that I covered my face for some reason with my left arm.”

Moat then shot the officer again in the arm, and luckily he still managed to pass a message on to control.

“And then seconds or minutes later I actually heard sirens coming as I’d managed to open the driver’s door and put my foot in it, so the interior lights stayed on.”

PC Rathband was shot in the face by killer Roaul Moat (Northumbria Police via Getty Images)

The killer then sent a further message to police, as played in the doc, saying he was going ‘to destroy a few lives’ and that he had ‘no life left’ because of them.

“I’m absolutely not gonna stop. You’re gonna have to kill me,” Moat said.

He then went on a run for the week before a six-hour stand-off with police in a remote Northumberland village.

Moat then turned the gun on himself and died by suicide on 10 July.

Raoul Moat: Inside the Mind of a Killer is available on Prime Video UK & IE from 12 October

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.