Manhunt

The manhunt for Raoul Moat has ended in the media spotlight and now the questions are coming thick and fast. At one level the hunt was a success, in that his shooting spree was brought to an end before he could kill or injure again. At another level he seemed to be able to outwit literally an army of police and in spite of his rage and violence, cut a rather tragic figure who had support from elements of the community. The final standoff ended without Moat attempting to shoot his way out, which is a blessing, but without the police being able to stop him taking his own life, which some see as a failure.

Moat faced a lifetime in gaol in any event. If it was an imperative to save his life, a commendable aim in an enlightened country, confronting him with a phalanx of armed officers akin to a firing squad, may not have been the way to go about it. Public safety and his arrest alive might have been secured with more in cover and less on view. Pleas from his nearest relatives to approach him when he sank into a sad recital of his abandonment by his kin should not, perhaps have been ignored.

We shall not know the answers to these questions until after both the outcomes of the IPCC review and the inquest. Meanwhile there is that nagging feeling that the vast, at times frenetic, procedure driven, safety governed response to this case may have delayed its conclusion and may not, in future, be the way to do this.