Raoul Moat took Dad from us when he pulled the trigger …now ITV’s making us relive it, says PC David Rathband’s daughter
THE daughter of one of Raoul Moat's victims says the gunman took her dad "as soon as he pulled the trigger" - and now the family has to relive their agony thanks to ITV's drama.
Mia Rathband was just 14 when her badly wounded dad PC David Rathband took his own life in 2012.
The police officer was blasted in the face at close range twice by bodybuilder and ex-bouncer Moat, 37, in 2010.
David, 42, was blinded in the horror attack and after two years of struggling with his disability, killed himself.
Now in her first interview, Mia has said the three-part ITV drama is very "painful" and she doesn't "understand why it's needed".
The new series which ends tonight dramatises Moat's terrifying rampage - which saw him kill one victim and injure two.
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Just 12 years old at the time, Mia was celebrating her birthday with friends at a sleepover the night Moat shot her dad.
The dad-of-two wasn't meant to be working that night but picked up the extra shift.
Mia, now 24, recalled the moment she woke in the middle of the night and could tell something was wrong.
She : "I do remember feeling that something wasn't right. My mum wasn't there, but one of our neighbours was.
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"She said Mum was at the hospital because my dad had had an accident at work.
"I thought it was a car accident, because he was a traffic officer."
Walking into the hospital the following morning, Mia was told " your dad doesn't look the same" as her mum broke the news he'd been shot.
Mia added: "You know in films where everything around you stops? It was like that. I don't think I could even process it."
Previously convicted Moat went on a rampage after he was freed from jail.
He tracked down ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart and her new boyfriend Chris Brown, 29, 13 years ago.
After firing a shotgun through a window in Gateshead, Moat killed Chris while injuring Sam.
Warped Moat then blasted David at random in his parked patrol car after going looking for a policeman to murder.
David's twin brother Darren Rathband has said "the victims were never a priority" when it came to filming the drama series.
He said: "This ITV drama should be a comedy — or at least a parody set with the Benny Hill theme music.
“The victims were never a priority. ITV have ignored the sentiment, and have paid the relatives lip service.”
Moat's long-lost dad Peter Blake, 81, said the series should "never have been made" as it will "re-traumatise" his grandkids.
Moat's daughter Katelaine Fitzpatrick, 24, previously told The Sun the series will "bring the horror back".
The mum, who admits she's ashamed to call Moat her dad, said: "For many it will just be a crime drama on telly, but for me and his victims, and the family of his victims, this is our life.
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"He was a monster. He ruined so many lives and I don’t think it will ever stop affecting my life.”
The Hunt for Raoul Moat started on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, 16 April. Episode two aired Monday, 17 April and episode three airs Tuesday, 18 April.
