Paul Gascoigne claims he tried to help the killer Raoul Moat after convincing himself he was his brother following a cocaine binge.
Moat shot and fatally wounded himself after a six-hour stand-off with police in Northumberland in 2010. He had been on the run after shooting his former partner Samantha Stobbart, her boyfriend Chris Brown and blinding officer David Rathband a week before.
During the stand-off, Gascoigne, who is recovering from an addiction to drink and alcohol, travelled to the scene in his dressing gown with a fishing rod and a cooked chicken after a drink and drugs binge.
Gascoigne had gone fishing in Rothbury, where Moat was having a stand-off with police, a number of times in the past.
In comments reported by The Mirror, the former England footballer 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.
“A few whiskies, another few lines, I've had about eight lines and we went to school together.
Gascoigne travelled in a taxi to where Moat had been cornered by police but was denied access. After being told to “just go home” by an officer, he went to bed with a bottle of whisky and woke up with no recollection of the incident. That was until he checked his phone, realising he had hundreds of missed calls, and turned on Sky News.
“I was like — what have I done? I've got a chicken by my side, fishing rods, a Barbour, I'm like f*** me I must have done something.
“I turn on Sky News — Paul Gascoigne was there last night.”
