Raoul Moat: Why people are angry with the TV show about infamous murderer

What's happened? The manhunt for fugitive Raoul Moat has been depicted in a new three-part true crime drama on ITV, which has left some people including family of the victims feeling angry.

The 37-year-old former-prisoner shot his ex-partner Samantha Stobbart and her new boyfriend Christopher Brown - who died as a result - before shooting PC David Rathband in July 2010.

He then went on the run for a week, threatening to kill police officers and members of the public, sparking a major search operation across Tyne and Wear and Northumberland.

It was one of the most high-profile cases of its kind in the UK, ending in a six-hour standoff with Northumbria Police near the town of Rothbury which eventually saw Moat turn his gun on himself.

The Hunt for Raoul Moat, the final instalment of which airs 9pm Tuesday, tells the story through the eyes of those who tried to bring the killer to justice, but some people are angry with the show.

Here, Yahoo News UK looks at the crimes of Raoul Moat and why the dramatisation of his shooting spree is so controversial.

Who was Raoul Moat?

Roaul Moat grew up in the Fenham area of Newcastle, and was brought up with his half-brother Angus mainly by his grandmother.

His mother, who had bipolar disorder, beat him regularly and once set all of his toys alight in front of him, an inquest into his death heard.

Moat went on to work as a panel beater, tree surgeon and bouncer, and his trauma followed him into adult life. The 6ft 3in tall and 17-stone former bodybuilder had nightmares about being chased by monsters as a seven-year-old boy, and was reportedly prone to "eruptions of anger".

Moat, who had a daughter with 22-year-old Stobbart and two other children from a previous relationship, went to prison for 18 weeks in February 2010 over what police called a "low-level assault" on a nine-year-old relative.

In the months leading to his shooting spree, he told social workers he wanted to see a psychiatrist in case he had a "problem", prompting questions over whether more could have been done to prevent his crimes.

• Who is Raoul Moat and what did he do? New ITV series to premier this weekend (The Northern Echo, 3 mins)

Shooting spree and manhunt

On 3 July, a few days after his release from HMP Durham, Moat visited the house where ex-girlfriend Stobbart and her new partner Brown were staying - hoping to rekindle his old relationship.

As karate instructor Brown stepped out to confront him, Moat shot him at close range with a shotgun. The gunman then shot through the window and hit Stobbart in the arm and abdomen, but she survived.

The following day, Moat, who had a grudge against police, attacked PC Rathband as he sat in his patrol car near East Denton, Newcastle.

The officer was permanently blinded and took his own life in February 2012.

Moat managed to evade capture for around a week, with police deploying 160 armed officers, teams of snipers, helicopters, dogs and armoured vehicles in a bid to find the gunman, ITV reports.

During the search, Moat sent letters and made phone calls to police threatening to kill any police officer who tried to stop him. A number of people were arrested on suspicion of trying to help the fugitive.

Investigators found several abandoned campsites where it is thought Moat slept rough. Eventually, he was spotted by police in Rothbury and a six-hour standoff ensued, ending with Moat's death on 10 July.

• How the Echo reported on the Raoul Moat manhunt 13 years on as new drama airs on ITV (The Northern Echo, 4 mins)

Unusual elements

This case stands out due to some rather unusual aspects. It emerged that TV survival expert Ray Mears had stepped in to help police with their investigation.

"It was the hardest tracking I’ve done. I didn’t want a situation where he knew we were coming and could lie in wait for us," he wrote in his autobiography My Outdoor Life.

“We knew Moat was very dangerous but the most important thing was that I didn’t want to let people down. That was more a concern for me than Moat.”

In another bizarre twist, former England player Paul Gascoigne showed up at the scene of the standoff in a dressing gown with lager, chicken and a fishing rod. He was convinced he could "save" the murderer with a peace offering, but police denied him access to the scene and told him to go home.

Opening up in 2015 about the incident, the ex-footballer said he had been drinking heavily and taking large quantities of cocaine when he decided to try and help.

• The Hunt for Raoul Moat: Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne’s bizarre involvement in the case (Independent, 3 mins)

Why are people so angry with ITV's show?

While ITV says it chose to frame the show through the eyes of victims and police and conducted thorough research, some people still believe it is "glorifying" Moat's crimes.

Sue Sim, Northumbria Police's chief constable at the time of the killings, told the BBC's 5 Live Breakfast that it was too soon to relive the events as they were "within the lifetime of everyone who was there".

"I was absolutely horrified when ITV told me they were going to make what they called a dramatisation, which means they don't have to be quite as factual with the events," she said. "The issue is Moat has children who have to have this awful thing their father did brought back to them."

Sally Brown, the 72-year-old mother of Christopher Brown, told MailOnline that the show "opens up old wounds" for the family in a bid to "attract viewers and make millions out of it".

• ITV's Raoul Moat drama 'horrifies' ex-police chief Sue Sim (BBC, 4 mins)