Our 6-hour stand-off with crazed killer Moat

Armed cop recalls chilling moment he & pal cornered fugitive

- BY EMMELINE SAUNDERS

WITH his shotgun trained on himself and penned in by armed police, killer Raoul Moat's final moments were played out in front of the TV cameras after a gripping standoff.

The deranged 37-year-old bouncer had been on a shooting spree that left his ex-girlfriend hurt, her new boyfriend dead and PC David Rathband blinded.

Now, 15 years on from the manhunt that ended with Moat's suicide in a wood in Rothbury, Northumberland, UK on July 10, 2013, the two firearms officers who cornered him have spoken for the first time about the thug who ranted about his hatred for the police.

Adam Twigg and Damian Sharp were called to the patch of land the day before - a week after Moat went on the run.

The West Yorkshire pair had finished a vain search for a gun in disturbed earth at a graveyard after being alerted by a worker there.

They then visited a bakery where the owner had promised to hand over treats that had not been sold when their shift ended.

Damian said: “We're in there with all this kit on and I'm driving the ARV [armed-response vehicle].

COUPLE

"Twiggy's in the passenger seat and I tell him we'll head down the road and turn right, near the river. I take a big bite of a cream bun and all the cream flops down the front of my vest.

"Just then I look up and there he is, standing with the shotgun in his hand."

Adam added: “As I'm looking along the riverbank I clock this elderly couple who are walking backwards.

"They've also spotted Moat, but luckily he's staring into the river and hasn't noticed them or us approaching him from behind."

The next few terrifying moments are still etched on both men's minds.