Who was Chris Brown and why was he murdered by Raoul Moat?

RAOUL MOAT went on a crazed rampage that was to permanently scar the lives of several people and result in the deaths of two others.

Police launched the largest manhunt in the country’s history, trying to track down the man taunting them over his crimes, including the shooting of Chris Brown.

Who was Chris Brown?

Chris Brown was a karate instructor murdered by gunman Raoul Moat.

Brown was the new boyfriend of Samantha Stobbart, Moat’s ex-girlfriend.

The 29-year-old had met Samantha after moving from Berkshire to Tyneside to start a new life.

Brown was living in a flat in Gateshead, and met Samantha while promoting his martial arts classes.

Moat was released from prison on July 1, 2010, after serving an 18-week sentence for assault.

Two days later, he tracked Samantha to a house in Gateshead where she was staying with new partner Brown.

Why was he murdered by Raoul Moat?

Moat fatally shot Chris outside the house before shooting at Samantha twice through the front window of the property on July 3, 2010.

Samantha said at the the inquest that Brown had deliberately stepped in front of Moat to protect her.

Samantha, who was 22 at the time, had lied to former partner Moat, saying that she was dating a police officer.

Brown’s family criticised her for lying about her new boyfriend’s profession and blamed police for not giving their son warning that he could be in danger.

Where is Raoul Moat now?

After the extensive manhunt to find Moat involving 160 officers, they managed to locate his car in Rothbury.

They told residents to stay indoors as they closed the net on the wanted criminal.

Once they located Moat near the River Coquet, an intense six-hour period of negotiation took place.

Despite this, Moat shot himself on July 10, 2010.

He had written a 49-page-confession revealing that cartridges earmarked for Samantha had been doctored so she would survive, but live with memento scars.

Following an inquest in 2011, Moat’s death was ruled a suicide and it was found that Northumbria Police had not been at fault.