Tango 190

'In my world the word hero is way over-used. In the real world, it's the absolute minimum requirement for PC David Rathband.' ALAN SHEARER This is PC David Rathband's own, very personal account of his wounding by gunman Raoul Moat in the summer of 2010. PC Rathband, police call sign Tango 190, was blinded when Moat shot him in the face at point blank range as he sat in his patrol car on 4th July 2010. Twenty-four hours earlier Moat had shot his ex-partner Samantha Stobbart, 22, and killed her lover, Chris Brown, in Gateshead. The shootings sparked the largest police manhunt in British history, dominated the headlines and became one of the biggest and most controversial news stories of 2010. It ended with a stand-off between Moat and armed police on a river bank in the small Northumberland town of Rothbury, and the death of the former night club doorman. This book is Rathband's personal account of the attack and the events surrounding it, including his attendance at the trials of Moat's henchmen.
It is also the story of his physical recuperation and the gradual and courageous rebuilding of his life, with the help of his family, in the wake of terrible injuries sustained in the line of duty. The story becomes even more poignant in the light of PC Rathband s death and his ultimate failure to recover mentally from what had happened to him, despite his heroic efforts. Tragically, he took his own life on 29 February 2012.