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toxic legacy
My murderer dad Raoul Moat was a monster – but I had a shocking reaction to his death
FOR many viewers, a new TV drama re-enacting Raoul Moat’s murderous rampage will be entertainment — but for his traumatised daughter it will be a terrifying reminder of the monster who was her father.
The ITV three-parter about one of the most infamous man-hunts in UK history means Katelaine Fitzpatrick will relive the horror of summer 2010.
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Her dad’s killing spree led to Katelaine, now 24, being so badly bullied as a child that she is too scared to send her kids to school.
In an exclusive interview before the show airs from next Sunday she admits she feels ashamed to call Moat her dad.
The softly spoken mum said: “This TV series is going to bring the horror back.
"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.”
In July 2010, following his release from an 18-week jail sentence for assault, 37-year old Moat went to former girlfriend Samantha Stobbart’s mum’s home with a sawn-off shot-gun, mistakenly believing his ex was dating a police officer.
He killed her new boyfriend, karate instructor Chris Brown, outside before firing at, and injuring, Samantha through a window of the house in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Ex-bouncer Moat then boasted he was “hunting” police officers, phoning to say: “I will keep killing police until I am dead. They’ve hunted me for years, now it’s my turn.”
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Within 24 hours he had shot PC David Rathband at point-blank range in the face, blinding him.
The officer took his own life in February 2012, aged 44, because he could not cope with his disability.
It took a week for Moat to be cornered, in Rothbury, Northumberland, when he turned his shotgun on himself.
The Hunt For Raoul Moat, starring actor Matt Stokoe as the killer, is now set to be a TV ratings winner.
Katelaine, whose mum Caroline Fitzpatrick, a counsellor, escaped from Moat after years of abuse when their daughter was small, will be one of the viewers.
She said: “My mum left my dad before I could remember but I knew who he was.
“I was 11 when he did what he did and we were taken to a safe house in case he tried to kill us too.
"We watched it on the TV, it didn’t feel real that it was my dad on the TV.
"When he killed himself we hugged each other. I didn’t hate him then, I didn’t want him to be dead. But it was over, a relief.”
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Final goodbye
A month later Katelaine started secondary school.
She said: “I was bullied constantly because I look like him. I have his light skin and blue eyes and physically we are very similar.
“Kids would yell, ‘Moaty!’ at me in the street and try to provoke me to fight back, as though pushing me to be like him.
"I was picked on the whole time. I was very shy and to begin with I ignored it, but I ended up fighting to defend myself.
“Older girls would come over to me and say, ‘You’re Raoul Moat’s daughter, aren’t you?’
"It was awful because back then, after he died, I was confused.
"He was still my dad, and for years I would release a balloon on his birthday and write him a card, then set it alight.
“I used to have the feeling my dad was watching me. I would imagine he was looking down on me and feeling proud.
“I wondered if he felt bad and ashamed. I wondered if he thought he was missing out on life.”
By the age of 12, Katelaine, of Kenton Bar, Newcastle Upon Tyne, was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression.
She added: “I had some therapy back then. I live in fear I could be like my dad in some way.”
At her dad’s inquest it was revealed he suffered from bipolar disorder.
He was brought up by his grandmother because his mum had the same condition.
Katelaine later spoke to her dad’s friends to try to piece together what he was really like and how badly his mental health had affected him.
She said: “They said he was generous, kind and smart but used that to manipulate people.
"He was seen as a big brute but he cross-dressed. He was a fun, bubbly character on the one hand, a monster with no control on the other.
"He was a man of contradictions — maybe because of the bipolar, I don’t know,
“If he’d had help with his mental health the shooting might not have happened. He was pushed to get help but chose not to. Maybe he was ashamed.”
Katelaine added: “I’ve asked for help but been told the waiting list on the NHS is two to three years, even though they know who my dad is.
“I’m never going to kill someone but I worry my mental health problems could escalate in the way my dad’s did.
"I’m so different from him in so many ways though. I’m not violent and am a good parent. But it could be hereditary to me or even my children.”
Full-time mum Katelaine, who now lives with partner Scott Thompson, 26, and kids Mckenzie, seven, and six-month-old Harper, said: “The kids have helped me to move on. They’re wonderful and I love them so much.”
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Katelaine will watch the TV drama. She said: “I have to, I want to see if it is how I remembered it as a child.
"It isn’t going to be easy, it will bring back memories, but I feel I need to see it. I often feel ashamed he is my dad, because of what he did. He was a monster.
“Some saw him as some hero figure, some kind of legend because he went up against the police, which is disgusting.”
After Katelaine has watched the TV series she plans to go to the spot where her dad died, and where his ashes are scattered, to say a final goodbye.
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She said: “I have already gained a lot of closure, but visiting the place where he died might help me to finally move on from his toxic legacy for good.”
- The Hunt for Raoul Moat will air on three consecutive nights on ITV1, starting at 9pm next Sunday.
Timeline of horrors
JULY 1 2010: Moat is released from 18 months’ jail for assault.
JULY 3: He goes to ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart’s mum’s home in Gateshead, with a sawn-off shotgun, at 2.40am.
He shoots dead Samantha’s boyfriend and fires at her, seriously injuring her.
JULY 4: Moat calls 999 at 12.23pm, threatening to shoot a police officer.
Minutes later he blasts uniformed PC David Rathband in the face, blinding him.
JULY 9: Moat is cornered in Rothbury, Northumberland. He is surrounded by police snipers as negotiators move in.
July 10: Shortly after 1am, Moat shoots himself dead.
FEBRUARY 29, 2012 – David Rathband takes his own life, unable to live with his disability.
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