Murderer Raoul Moat's former lover Samantha Stobbart lives a completely different life now.
Samantha was a teenager when she fell head over heels for nightclub bouncer Moat, who was 15 years her senior, and they went on to have a child together. Their on-and-off relationship lasted six years and ended months before Moat murdered Samantha's new boyfriend and shot her.
Tonight, ITV's three-part drama The Hunt for Raoul Moat airs on repeat and revisits Britain's most famous manhunt that shocked the nation in 2010. Here, the Mirror takes a look at what happened to Samantha after she tragically lost her partner and where she is now, 14 years later...
Terrifying vengeance
Samantha was 16 when she met Moat and went on to have a baby girl called Chanel with himSamantha met Moat in 2004 when her school friends set them up, and just a couple of years later they had a daughter named Chanel together. Samantha's half-sister Kelly said their six-year relationship was mired in domestic violence and he left her on a number of occasions.
While the bodybuilder was in Durham prison for assault, trainee hairdresser Samantha started dating karate instructor Chris Brown, 29. He had moved to the area from Windsor, Berkshire, six months before the attack. Moat became obsessed with the fact that Samantha was seeing a new man and wanted what he disgustingly described as "vengeance".
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Samantha told Moat that Chris was a policeman in a bid to protect herself. She later said Moat had a "Jekyll and Hyde split personality" and she was "very worried, frightened, really scared" about what he'd do when he was released.
"I expected he would flip his lid and that there would be trouble; he'd come looking for Chris," she told the court. "I had told him the relationship was at an end but he would not have it. He would not take no for an answer."
Losing her partner
Raoul Moat was a violent boyfriend and became very obsessive towards Samantha (Getty Images)On July 3, 2010, Moat shot ex-girlfriend Samantha through the window of a friend's house, moments after killing her lover Chris in a brutal attack. Samantha, then 22, was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, where she was left fighting for her life. Her sister Kelly told the Mirror: "We were thinking she could die - and that nutter Moat was still on the run."
The day after the initial shooting, Moat, 37, shot and blinded PC David Rathband, then 44, as he sat in his patrol car in Newcastle. The following day, Samantha was declared to no longer be in a critical condition and finally left the hospital on July 17. Samantha issued a direct appeal to Moat, who had gone on the run.
She said: "Please give yourself up. If you still loved me and our baby you would not be doing this." At 1.12am on July 10, Moat blasted himself in the head after a six-hour stand-off with armed police in Rothbury, Northumberland. Samantha told her family at the time: "My daughter's lost her dad. I wanted to see him again and ask why he did this to me. I just can't understand what's happened."
Horrifying trauma
Samantha recalled to the press the exact moment Moat appeared at the window and started to shoot. She told News of The World in 2010: "There was nothing I could do against a madman with a gun. I had to get back to the house to make sure my baby daughter Chanel was safe. I saw the sparks flying off Raoul's gun as he shot me. Then I was on the floor with blood pumping out everywhere."
On February 29, 2012, PC Rathband was found dead at his home in a suspected suicide, after struggling to come to terms with his blindness. "I just kept thinking to myself - that's another life that Raoul's taken away. Even when he's dead, he is still hurting people," Samantha told the Mirror. "I'm the only one left now. Sometimes I think this will only be finished when I die.
"I can't imagine how horrible it must be to lose your sight. But I do have an inkling of how he must have felt. I know how low I have felt and there were lots of times when I thought about suicide. I just thought 'I can't do this anymore'. But then I've got my little girl, and I would look at her and remember why I had to live. If I had lost my eyesight and couldn't see her, I don't think I'd be here either."
The 24-year-old was left scarred and traumatised by her horrific experience and became scared of the dark. "All I have to do is shut my eyes and I'm there. Chris is lying on the grass, dead. And Raoul is outside," she continued. "He has a dead look on his eyes, like the lights are on but no one is there.
Moat murdered Samantha's new partner Chris Brown in 2010 in an act of 'vengeance' (PA)
Moat also shot Samantha and she has three wounds that she covered with tattoos"But that isn't the only reason I'm scared of the dark. There are hundreds of people out there who blame me. That's why we have moved three times in two years, why I'm now living with my parents, and why I'm always looking over my shoulder. I think I'll be doing that for the rest of my life."
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Samantha found herself "wrapping Chanel up in cotton wool" afterwards, and admitted: "Without my daughter, I wouldn't have lasted this long. She is getting older now, and she does ask lots of questions. I always try to be honest with her without being too blunt with the facts. The other day we were in the bank and she pointed at my rib and said, 'Mummy, is that where Daddy shot you?' In the end I had to say yes.
"I'm lucky that Raoul never spent any time with her, so she doesn't remember him. She only knows his face because his photo was on the news. She used to think Chris was her dad. I told her he is a star in the sky now, so whenever there is a dark night, she'll point out a star and say, 'Mammy, is that Chris?' It always makes me cry. When she is older I will explain that Raoul was her dad, and show her the newspaper clippings. But it won't be easy."
Samantha had all three gunshot wounds decorated with tattoos - a bright butterfly, an extract from the poem Footsteps and a cross dedicated to Chris. She was barred from Chris' funeral by his family, but revealed she would still "write to him in a diary" in 2012. "I can't imagine finding anyone else who compares to him," she said. "I send him poems and letters. Losing him has changed my life forever."
Samantha added: "I know what happened will haunt me forever, and I'll never forget it 100 percent. But now I'm just trying to move on. If I start putting myself in the position of a victim then Raoul has won, and I don't want to let him win anymore. I'm going to get through this and not let him hurt me anymore."
Starting again
Sally Messham portrays Samantha Stobbart in ITV's The Hunt For Raoul Moat (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Samantha's interview with the Mirror in 2012 was the last time she spoke to the press about Moat, and she has remained out of the public eye since. According to the Daily Mail, Samantha, now 35, is believed to be a single mum and care worker and lives quietly with her two daughters.
A neighbour, who lives in her village near Durham, told the publication last year: "She works long hours at a nursing home, often doing the night shift. If she isn't at work she's out with her daughters, she's a lovely lass."
When ITV's documentary first aired last April, Samantha's sister Kelly, 40, spoke to the Mirror about how Samantha still faces abuse. She said: "We're lucky our Sam survived. ITV don't realise the impact this will have on the people involved. It still gives me nightmares and I suffer PTSD. I'm so sick of hearing Raoul's name, and I'm so sick of him being on TV.
"I hate seeing his face on social media and then having to read all the comments people make about Sam. So many people blame her for what happened on social media and troll her. This is something we can never forget but we would like to move on from it."
If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch.
- The Hunt for Raoul Moat airs on repeat on ITV1 tonight at 10.45pm
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