Gunman Raoul Moat kills himself

Fugitive gunman Raoul Moat has killed himself after a six-hour stand-off with armed officers, police have confirmed.

A spokesman said 37-year-old Moat shot himself in a field at Rothbury in Northumberland. He was pronounced dead in hospital at 0220 BST on Saturday.

Earlier, police confirmed that "no shots were fired by police officers" and no officers were hurt.

Police had been negotiating with Moat, who was cornered close to a river in Rothbury after a week-long manhunt.

Eyewitness Peter Abiston, whose house overlooks the scene of the incident, told the BBC: "There's been a shooting. Paramedics have gone into him.

"From what I can see he shot himself. He lay down and shot himself.

Moat was earlier seen pointing a gun at his own neck

"I think there was two, but there was certainly one shot."

Other local people overheard some of the negotiations that took place between Moat and the police before he apparently turned his gun on himself.

A guest-house owner, who did not want to be named, told the BBC: "He actually said, the one thing that sticks in my mind, 'I haven't got a dad'... and he also said that, 'nobody cares about me.'"

Police said Moat, a former nightclub bouncer and father-of-three, shot himself at about 0115 BST.

A single gunshot was heard, followed by shouts from officers close to him. One was heard to yell several times, "Put that gun down".

Paramedics were quickly on the scene and Moat was taken by ambulance to Newcastle General Hospital - accompanied by two police cars - but died shortly after arriving.

Police grudge

Officers discovered an armed man on the riverbank at about 1900 BST on Friday.

Expert negotiators were brought in to speak to him, and unconfirmed reports suggested a friend of Moat was also brought inside the police cordon to try to persuade him to surrender.

Moat was taken to hospital in Newcastle but died shortly after arriving

Moat had been on the run for a week after allegedly shooting his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and killing her new partner, Chris Brown.

The attacks took place in the Scafell area of Birtley, near Gateshead, on Saturday 3 July.

In the early hours of Sunday 4 July, Moat is alleged to have shot Pc David Rathband as he sat in his patrol car in East Denton, near Newcastle.

Moat was released from prison on Thursday 1 July.

Northumbria Police said he appeared to have a grudge against the force and in a letter purportedly written by him, he threatened to keep shooting officers until he was dead.

The focus of the manhunt moved to Rothbury when a black Lexus car, which Moat was thought to have been using, was discovered in the town on Tuesday.

Police imposed a 10-mile (16km) exclusion zone around the town and armed officers from forces across the country were brought in to assist in the search.

Do you live in Rothbury? Were you affected by the search for Raoul Moat? Send us your comments using the form below.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk)