During the Northumbria search in 2010, Paul Gascoigne wound himself in a standoff between murderer Raoul Moat and police.
The Hunt for Raoul Moat is a new drama on ITV that attempts to put a light on the personal tragedies that lay behind Britain’s largest search, seen through the eyes of those who fought to bring a ruthless killer to justice.
The series focuses on the innocent victims, such as Christopher Brown, Samantha Stobbart, and PC David Rathband, as well as the police officers who put themselves in harm’s way in their pursuit of Moat.
Here’s all you need to know about Gascoigne’s involvement in the case.
What happened between Paul Gascoigne and Raoul Moat?
Gascoigne, a former professional footballer, arrived at the crime scene on July 9 while police were attempting to negotiate Moat’s surrender.
He claimed to be Moat’s brother and claimed to have brought him a can of lager, some chicken, a fishing rod, a Newcastle jersey, and a dressing robe, but he was denied access to the fugitive.
Gascoigne subsequently revealed that he was deep in an addiction and grew so high on cocaine that he persuaded himself he knew Moat.
He revealed his unusual choice to attend at the crime site during a ‘Evening with Paul Gascoigne’.
‘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,’ he said.
He mistook them for siblings after taking more of the Class-A medication.
‘I’ve had 14 lines now and he’s my brother,’ he recalled.
Gascoigne was released by police and awoke the next morning to ‘250 missed calls’ after his appearance was broadcast on television.
Raoul eluded police for seven days while expressing threats that he was prepared to hunt down cops in cold blood and would even do the same to members of the public.
Despite the fact that Gascoigne was there at the crime scene, his tale will not be featured in ITV’s new drama.
According to Executive Producer Jake Lushington, the ex-footballer was left out of the series because the incident is ‘irrelevant’ to the larger event.
‘There is one line in the drama about Paul Gascoigne turning up in Rothbury,’ Lushington said.
‘That was such a small and irrelevant incident. We mention Gazza in one line because we’re not erasing it from history. But it certainly isn’t the concern of our story at all.’
The Hunt for Raoul Moat airs tonight at 9pm on ITV.