The family of PC David Rathband, who was shot and blinded by Raoul Moat, has lost a High Court negligence claim against Northumbria Police. The officer was blasted in the face in July 2010, minutes after the gunman had threatened to target officers. The case claimed those on patrol should have been warned they were in danger. Dismissing the claim, the judge ruled that the family should pay the force's costs, with an interim payment of £100,000 due within 21 days. Latest updates on this story on North East Local Live. PC Rathband, orginally from Stafford, began the civil action before he took his own life in 2012, and it was continued by his brother and sister. They argued that he had been left in "harm's way" as he was on his own and was parked in a prominent spot. 'Cruelty and hatred' However Northumbria Police defended its response, saying attempts were being made to pinpoint the gunman's exact position. Passing judgement at Newcastle's Moot Hall, Mr Justice Males, described it as an "immensely sad case". He said: "Moat was a resourceful and determined criminal, well capable of carrying out his threat, who remained at large for some days after PC Rathband was shot. "Regardless of the issue of any warning to be vigilant, PC Rathband ... was desperately unlucky to be the victim of Moat's cruelty and hatred, but if it had not been him, it would probably have been somebody else." Neither PC Rathband's twin brother Darren nor his sister Debbie Essery were in court for the ruling. Afterwards they said in a statement that they were disappointed by the judgement: "Mistakes were made, policies and procedures have been changed, that fact remains. "The arrogance and insensitivity of Northumbria Police throughout has been cruel to say the least."
This really is a sad case, but I think that the police rightly won it. I don't know anywhere near all of the facts, but, unfortunately, it seems to have been ' just one of those things'
I absolutely agree - I reckon some solicitor/lawyer type has told them they have a great case just to make a few quid - I can;t see how the police can be blamed for someone shooting someone in the face - unless they had specific knowledge of it beforehand. It looks like a "car crash whiplash compensation" style case to me only on a much bigger scale!
Minutes after the threat and the Police didn't know where Moat(Humbles) actually was. Where were they supposed to send their officers if they don't know where the gun men is? Bring all the police in and leave the area without any police? Yeah righto. Looks the right decision to me like.
Correct very unfortunate incident but any action taken by NP would not have prevented a disturbed individual causing serious/fatal injury to someone - as police they must accept such events may occur
Yet again i can't believe tax payers money has gone to these fekin lawyers. No idea why the family carried on fighting the case. Looks like pure greed to me in this compensation culture driven world. Everyone's just after a quick buck. Doubt the family will have the means to pay all of it back and the only winners here are the lawyers. Glad the police won though imagine if they were held responsible there would be claims left right and centre
I don't share the common thought I believe all police in the Northumbrian area in patrol cars in particular, Should have been warned its not hard to get the info over. Then rathbone would have placed his patrol car in a less prominent way Ie in a side street out of full view. Just a thought
If there's an armed Geordie arsehole about then you want the police to be visible on the streets - not hiding. The threat was to any police officer - not just those in patrol cars. Imagine if the scum who want to commit a major crime without any police interference could just make a phone call saying that they wanted to shoot an officer somewhere in the north-east, knowing that all of the Northumbria and Durham forces would then be called in off the streets.
He was a sitting duck I'm not saying he should of hide If he new he would not have been in that place Only saying
I would hope that as he had already shot and killed one person and seriously wounded another that same day, that every police officer in the north east would have seen his picture and be actively looking out for him. Policing is not a job where you should let your guard down and be unaware of what is going on around you whilst on duty.
No. All he didn't know was that a threat had been made to "hunt" police officers anywhere in the north-east. He should already have been on the lookout for Moat.
Ohh so he already new he was on the loose? That's a different perspective. He should of been vigilant at all times I was led to believe he was not informed of anything ?
Let's get the facts right Moat made a 999 call after he shot the first victims. In the call he threaten the lives of police officers, he clearly said he was going to kill them. This was a new threat. This information was not passed on to the police on the ground and in a short time period later the policeman was shot. We are talking minutes between call and the shooting. I think it was around the six minute mark. Taken from Facebook I know nowt
It was only minutes from the cal from Moat to the shooting. It was ridiculous to try and play the blame game over this tragic incident. I hate the way this country has followed the USA in becoming a 'Sue Society'...
