Echoes of history in hunt for Moat

The sight of hundreds of armed officers searching the countryside of northern England for a suspected killer obsessed with shooting police is nothing new.

In the summer of 1982 officers from across the UK hunted 37-year-old Barry Prudom in North Yorkshire.

Electrician Mr Prudom had killed two police officers and a civilian as well as injuring a number of others when he was finally cornered in the market town of Malton.

Up to 1,000 officers were involved in the search for Mr Prudom, who was an outdoor and military enthusiast.

They finally found him with the help of survival expert Eddie McGee - the Ray Mears of his day.

Mr Prudom was found dead after police opened fire on his hideout but a post-mortem examination found he had already killed himself.

The 18-day search for Mr Prudom began on June 17, 1982, when he shot father-of-three Pc David Haigh, 29, at a picnic site near Harrogate.

He used a .22 calibre pistol to shoot the officer in the head as he was conducting a car check.

Five days later Mr Prudom turned up in the village of Girton, Nottinghamshire, where he went into George and Sylvia Luckett's home and shot them both. Mrs Luckett survived but her husband died.

Mr Prudom took the Lucketts' car and headed back north, turning up next in Dalby Forest near Scarborough. He shot at Pc Ken Oliver as he was checking the car. The bullet grazed the officer's nose.

North Yorkshire Police poured resources into the forest where the car was found burnt-out.

Until this point the police did not know whom they were looking for, but detectives managed to piece together the date of birth he gave to Pc Haigh in Harrogate with a man wanted on warrant in Leeds - Barry Prudom.

As pictures of Mr Prudom were printed in newspapers across the world, he eluded the mass of officers in the area looking for him until he turned up in Old Malton where he shot dead Sergeant David Winter in the middle of the town.

The chief constable ordered the biggest armed operation Britain had ever seen as the Malton area was sealed off.

Officers from 10 different forces descended on the town and police brought in Mr McGee after discovering their prey had learned some of the celebrity survival expert's techniques.

But Mr Prudom had taken refuge in a house where he had taken the Johnson family hostage.

He left in the early hours of July 4 but Mr McGee tracked him down to a makeshift hideout at Malton Tennis Club.

When the officers from Greater Manchester Police who had surrounded Mr Prudom heard a shot they opened fire.

But a post-mortem examination revealed that first shot they heard had been Mr Prudom taking his own life.

How events unfolded

As the hunt for Raoul Moat entered its sixth day, police involved charged two men with conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a firearm.

Here is how events have unfolded:

Thursday July 1
Former nightclub bouncer Raoul Thomas Moat, 37, from Newcastle, is freed from Durham Prison after serving a jail term for assault. He later reportedly posts a message on his Facebook page which says: "Just got out of jail, I've lost everything, my business, my property and to top it all off my lass of six years has gone off with the copper that sent me down. "I'm not 21 and I can't rebuild my life. Watch and see what happens."

July 2
Durham Prison warns Northumbria Police that Mr Moat may intend to cause serious harm to his former partner Samantha Stobbart.

July 3
2.40 a.m. Ms Stobbart's karate instructor boyfriend Chris Brown, 29, is shot dead outside a house in the Scafell area of Birtley, Gateshead. Shots are then fired through the living room window. Ms Stobbart is hit twice and left in a critical condition. Mr Moat is believed to have taken two men hostage around the time of the shooting. With a news blackout put in place due to a "significant risk" to the lives of the men, police do not reveal this until a press conference the following Tuesday.

11.30 a.m. Detective Superintendent Steve Howes of Northumbria Police launches a manhunt.

11.30 p.m. Mr Moat visits the home of his friend Andy Mcallister, who later tells The Sun newspaper that he told Mr Moat to hand himself in and was interviewed by police the next day.

July 4
0.45 a.m. A police officer, later identified as married father-of-two PC David Rathband, 42, is shot in an "unprovoked attack" at a roundabout joining the A1 and A69 in East Denton, Newcastle. The officer is rushed to Newcastle General Hospital and undergoes surgery. His condition is described as critical but stable. Police later reveal Mr Moat called 999 about 12 minutes before the attack, threatening to shoot a police officer, and rang back 50 minutes after the shooting. During the calls, Mr Moat said he believed Ms Stobbart was having an affair with a police officer and alleged police were not taking him seriously. Mr Moat writes a 49-page confession letter headed Raoul Moat Murder Statement 4/7/10 in which he details the shootings and vows to keep killing police until he is dead.

2.30 p.m. Northumbria Police appeal directly to Mr Moat, pleading with him to give himself up. Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Adamson says he knows Mr Moat is concerned for the future well-being of his three children and tells him: "For their sake, this has to stop now."

July 5
1.30 a.m. Mr Moat returns to Mr Mcallister's house and hands him his confession letter, asking him to pass it to the police and the press. Ms Stobbart's half-sister Kelly Stobbart says family members are "terrified" he will go after them and claims Mr Moat would rather "go out in a blaze of glory" then give himself up. Northumbria Police confirm firearms officers from other forces have been drafted in to help with the manhunt.

11.10 a.m. Mrs Sim reveals during a press conference that Northumbria Police has referred its response to the information passed on by Durham Prison to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Ms Stobbart, who is now said to be "stable and improving", issues a direct appeal to Mr Moat, through the police, saying: "Please give yourself up. If you still love me and our baby you would not be doing this." Her statement reveals she told Mr Moat she was dating a police officer because she was frightened, although it was not true. During the press conference, police also reveal they received a handwritten letter purportedly from Mr Moat setting out a "general grievance" with the police. Mr Adamson says there are indications that other people may be at risk and a number of them have been given police protection.

6.45 p.m. Police release a picture of Pc Rathband's bloody face as he recovers in hospital from gunshot wounds.

10.50 p.m. An armed robbery takes place at a fish and chip shop in Delaval Fish Bar in Astley Road, Seaton Delaval, near Blyth. A man with a similar description to Mr Moat brandishes a gun and steals cash. Police confirm in a press conference the following Wednesday that they believe Mr Moat was responsible.

11 p.m. Police give details of a car connected to Mr Moat which officers are trying to trace. The vehicle is a black Lexus with the registration number V322 HKX.

July 6
11.15 a.m. Police announce they have set up a two-mile exclusion zone on the ground around Rothbury and a five-mile zone in the air. People are warned to stay indoors and locals say schools are closed as a precaution.

11.45 a.m. At a police press conference, Mr Adamson says shortly after 10 a.m., following information from the public, a police operation in the Rothbury area led officers to the black Lexus car, which was unoccupied. He says two men, believed to be the hostages, were seen walking along a road near Rothbury and were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.

12.30 p.m. Police surround Pike House, a disused grade-two listed farm building near Rothbury. Armed officers are seen searching the two-storey premises after a window is forced open to allow a police dog to enter. Marksmen from several forces search abandoned buildings, forests and grassland on the edge of Northumberland National Park, 30 miles north of Newcastle.

1.20 p.m. Police reveal Mr Moat has only one previous conviction, for common assault, but has been arrested 12 times and charged with seven separate offences.

July 7
The Sun newspaper publishes the names of Mr Moat's suspected accomplices. Karl Ness, 26, and Qhuram Awan, 23, are named as the two men being held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. Police had treated the men as hostages but when they were found walking in Rothbury, near where Mr Moat's Lexus was dumped, they were arrested as possible accomplices.

11 a.m. Police reveal another letter from Mr Moat found in a tent in a secluded spot near Rothbury. The eight-page handwritten letter, addressed to Samantha Stobbart, referred to personal matters between the pair and re-asserted his belief her new partner was a policeman. Police offer a £10,000 reward for information which leads to Moat being captured and Northumbria's temporary chief constable Sue Sim says "no stone will be unturned" as she appeals for the public's continued support. Mr Adamson says they believe Moat has access to weapons and ammunition, and others may be helping him stay on the run. He also gives a new description of Moat. Samantha Stobbart's father Paul pleads with Mr Moat to hand himself in.

7 p.m. A team of armed officers lead a man, later confirmed as an associate of Mr Moat, near Rothbury as the search for the suspected gunman intensifies.

July 8
2.50 a.m. Two men arrested in connection with the hunt for Mr Moat are charged with conspiracy to commit murder and possessing a firearm with intent. Northumbria Police says Karl Ness, 26, from Dudley in North Tyneside, and Qhuram Awan, 23, from Blyth in Northumberland, would appear at Newcastle Magistrates Court.