Paul Gascoigne famously turned up at the scene of Raoul Moat's final stand-off in Rothbury, convinced he get through to the killer in what would turn out to be his final hours. However, in the years that followed the headline making man hunt, Gazza made a candid admission over what really happened that night.
Having launched to an audience of millions on Sunday night, ITV's The Hunt for Raoul Moat comes to an end on Tuesday, with its third and final episode. The true crime drama's series opener revisited the events of July 3 2010 when Moat killed ex Samantha Stobbart's new boyfriend Christopher Brown in Birtley. Having declared war on Northumbria Police and threatening to 'go after' officers, Moat then shot and blinded PC David Rathband, as he sat in a patrol car on the outskirts of the city.
Tuesday's second episode saw Moat make his way out of Newcastle, aided by two accomplices and robbing a Seaton Delaval chip shop as he headed up to the quiet village of Rothbury. The second instalment of The Hunt for Raoul Moat ended with a chilling threat from Moat that he'd start targeting members of the public, having been incensed by some of the stories he'd read about himself in tabloid newspapers.
READ MORE: What Paul Gascoigne actually took to Rothbury for Raoul Moat and what he planned to say
The latter stages of Tuesday's finale will concentrate on Moat's stand-off with police and that is the point, in real life, that Gazza bizarrely turned up at the scene, armed with a fishing rod, lager and chicken for Moat.
As ChronicleLive reported last week, producers took the decision not to cast anyone as Gazza for the drama, with executive producer, Jake Lushington saying: "The surprise brief and not very successful intervention from someone famous (Gazza) became a big story at the time but it didn't change the events at all. We've referred to it , but it's got nothing to do with the story we're trying to tell."
He added: "We haven't minimised the impact of Gazza turning up because it didn't have one."
Did Gazza really know Raoul Moat?
Despite turning up at the scene, determined to talk to Moat, at an event in 2015, England icon Gazza admitted there was no friendship between himself and the fugitive gunman.
Addressing fans, he said: “You've got to realise I'm half cut anyway, sitting in the living room, I've got about six lines (of cocaine) lined up.
“I'm not realising much but a good line and me and Raoul Moat are sort of friends. A couple more lines and we are good buddies.”
Paul continued: “A few whiskies, another few lines, I've had about eight lines and we went to school together."
Gazza has since admitted that, by the time he got ready to go to Rothbury, he had had 14 lines of cocaine and, speaking of the taxi journey to Northumberland and how nervous the driver was, the former Newcastle and Spurs star added: "“I said just drop me off and wait for me, I won't be long, I can help him. I've been to rehab so many times I'm a connoisseur.”
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