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BBC NEWS 24 are reporting live from Rothbury, Northumberland, England that Raoul Moat is surrounded by armed police and is holding a sawn off shotgun to his neck. A resident of the town is talking to the BBC reporter, John Sopell, on a mobile phone, as he is watching the scene unfold in front of him.

BBC News 24 is live, online 24/7 if anyone is outside the UK.

Reality TV at its best.

Town out in force..

packed with kids having fun..

It's like a fuckin' street party..

The police are telling the media that they MUST relocate 10 MILES away from the scene as they are thought to be hindering the police in their duties.

It is indeed a circus with pub goers standing there drinking. I hope this does not end badly.

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Quote: Nae mair crap
I hope this does not end badly.

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Suicide by cop a popular hobby.

NMC - thanks for the serious update. Hope all ends well in that no 'innocent' people are killed or injured.

Even though I don't know the whole 'Moat' story.....I've been following it the last few days.

(Messaged you a few days ago - )

It might even have ended by now - I haven't looked - the press aren't interfering at the moment but the cops know that when it gets dark they'll be going places they shouldn't.

Sadly, he took his own life at 1.15am. RIP

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Quote: Nae mair crap

Sadly, he took his own life at 1.15am. RIP

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SADLY???
SADLY???

This is a man who was released from prison, after serving a sentence for violence against a teenager, only to shoot three innocent people, one fatally.
He then went on the run, threatening to kill more innocent people, both police and public, and the manhunt cost the tax payer millions of pounds.

He then wasn't man enough to face up to what he had done, so he killed himself.

I have no pity for the man, only for the people whose lives he ruined, especially his children............

YES BIRBEE SADLY VERY SADLY - sometimes you bloody annoy me and I'll begin by mentioning those throwaway lines you put into serious threads when others want to resolve a problem - they don't help. But I do know you are a Northerner so I know that beneath all that you probably have a heart of gold.

None of us know this bloke yet some of us including me have had the fucking gall to write stuff about him on this site even as he stood there with a gun at his neck.

We have information only from reporters and newspapers - just those ones that we lampoon here for their outrageous approach, their fabrications and their lies.

Yes, he did all those things because he became what he became but don't fool yourself Birbee that we are really that self-determining in our futures and what we become.

When I woke this morning and heard the news I was sad too and I'm glad that NMC too was sad because it shows this site has others on it who aren't always just superficial and out for the cheap laugh at others' expense. I've said before we have to be careful about choosing our victims.It's a big responsibility what we do here and one we should reflect upon deeply and regularly and if we do it, do with great care and not throw compassion to the four winds.

Did you see the pictures of him in the papers as a child? He wasn't born as he became, despite what some churches would have us believe. I have no idea of the real circumstances that led him to become what he became and I do not dispute what he did. However, this individual in the last few days became a danger to the public at large and this was due to what upset and angered him about what he saw as inaccuracies and untruths in the media coverage of his life. You can't protest that he was 100% responsible for that. The media put the public at danger there from a man who otherwise had very specific anger with the police.

It IS sad that as he stood there and pulled the trigger it was because he saw no hope, no redemption. Hope that as the little boy in the pictures in the papers he most surely had - something that we all can identify with because at that age we too were not the, angry, cynical, realistic, funny, helpless, frustrated, hopeless, optimistic, pessimistic -you name it - people we became who now write here.

What would you have done if you had seen the comments reportedly made by his mother who said he would have been better off dead? Just the person whose love should be unconditional whether she condones what he did or not she brough him into the world, she had a lifetime responsibility to him. The only hand outstretched before him was one that he didn't trust, that of the Police, who he saw as those who had not allowed him to go straight but instead had hounded him.

So last night he pulled the trigger. His mind was clouded. Clouded by fear, disappointment and disillusion of all those childhood hopes. Clouded by betrayal and the effects of the drugs he had used to pump up his body to an extent that he was able to obtain at least some self-confidence and respect in a world that otherwise couldn't give a damn since there was no love left in it for Raoul Moat; not even the love of a mother for her son.

Whatever Raoul Moat did and became we all bear part of the responsibility because the World becomes what we together make it. His life was certainly wortha lot more than he saw it to be and much more than the few hundred reads we might have got from the articles we wrote about him.

For all those reasons Birbee old mate it is a SAD thing and we should reflect and ponder on it.


If you and I and NMC and any others can get to the spoofers' get-together in August I'd still be very happy to buy you a drink even though you sometimes irk me in the forums. I'd be very happy to discuss anything with anybody particularly our responsibilities as writers because unless we consider those and take them seriously we cannot claim any rights as writers.

As they say up your way - "Think on't"

Lynton thank you for your message. I agree with all you say.

It is sad when someone has the opportunity to live but chooses to end it all his way.

Good man Lynton.

Good man.

That was quite a rant, Lynton.
Calm down, dear.

Fergus, whats got your goat?

All true, but there are people left, if nowt else.

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Quote: birbee

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Quote: Nae mair crap

Sadly, he took his own life at 1.15am. RIP

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SADLY???
SADLY???

This is a man who was released from prison, after serving a sentence for violence against a teenager, only to shoot three innocent people, one fatally.
He then went on the run, threatening to kill more innocent people, both police and public, and the manhunt cost the tax payer millions of pounds.

He then wasn't man enough to face up to what he had done, so he killed himself.

I have no pity for the man, only for the people whose lives he ruined, especially his children............

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Quote: Jesus Budda

Fergus, whats got your goat?

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Foxes, Bastard bushy tailed little fuckers.

Calling Fergus McCarthy, please report to the bastards thread

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Quote: Lynton

Calling Fergus McCarthy, please report to the bastards thread

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Foxes are beautifull little creatures, show some respect vicar.

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Quote: Lynton

- sometimes you bloody annoy me and I'll begin by mentioning those throwaway lines you put into serious threads when others want to resolve a problem - they don't help.

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I feel a poem coming on.

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Quote: Lynton

But I do know you are a Northerner so I know that beneath all that you probably have a heart of gold.

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Where's me bucket?

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Quote: Lynton

None of us know this bloke yet some of us including me have had the fucking gall to write stuff about him on this site even as he stood there with a gun at his neck.

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Poignant.

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Quote: Lynton

We have information only from reporters and newspapers - just those ones that we lampoon here for their outrageous approach, their fabrications and their lies.

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Hear! Hear!

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Quote: Lynton

Yes, he did all those things because he became what he became but don't fool yourself Birbee that we are really that self-determining in our futures and what we become.

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Ah, I see. So does that mean I am absolved of 'being me', what with all my peculiarities and faults? I don't think this will wash, Lynton, old boy. Certain things determine our situations, but we, ourselves, decide what to do about them, and whether or not to shoot people. Nice try though.

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Quote: Lynton

Did you see the pictures of him in the papers as a child?

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Was he cute?

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Quote: Lynton

It IS sad that as he stood there and pulled the trigger it was because he saw no hope, no redemption. Hope that as the little boy in the pictures in the papers he most surely had - something that we all can identify with because at that age we too were not the, angry, cynical, realistic, funny, helpless, frustrated, hopeless, optimistic, pessimistic -you name it - people we became who now write here.

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If I ever go the same way as Raoul, I'll be sure to email you beforehand so that you can pen the perfect Spoof Scoop, and score literally millions of points off my demise, breaking all spoofing records, and cementing my place in history as the first scribbler on this site that blah blah blah...

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Quote: Lynton

What would you have done if you had seen the comments reportedly made by his mother who said he would have been better off dead? Just the person whose love should be unconditional whether she condones what he did or not she brough him into the world, she had a lifetime responsibility to him.

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She didn't make the best of starts. She called him 'Raoul'.

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Quote: Lynton

The only hand outstretched before him was one that he didn't trust, that of the Police, who he saw as those who had not allowed him to go straight but instead had hounded him.

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Bloody coppers!

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Quote: Lynton

So last night he pulled the trigger. His mind was clouded. Clouded by fear, disappointment and disillusion of all those childhood hopes. Clouded by betrayal and the effects of the drugs he had used to pump up his body to an extent that he was able to obtain at least some self-confidence and respect in a world that otherwise couldn't give a damn since there was no love left in it for Raoul Moat; not even the love of a mother for her son.

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Lynton, mate, are you crying? The page is all wet.

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Quote: Lynton

Whatever Raoul Moat did and became we all bear part of the responsibility because the World becomes what we together make it.

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Oh, I admit it. It was me.

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Quote: Lynton

I'd be very happy to discuss anything with anybody particularly our responsibilities as writers because unless we consider those and take them seriously we cannot claim any rights as writers.

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Double-post

I'm with Lynton. I read about Raoul and found, as I'd expected to, after reading that he was a bouncer, that he was on steroids.

I watched, helplessly as I saw steroids turn a good friend of ours into an aggressive, paranoid 'hulk'.
I was embarassed to be 'out' with him in public. Anyone who merely 'looked' in his direction, was in danger. It was a terrible time and strained our friendship somewhat.

Happily he saw sense and stopped taking the steroids. He eventually returned to the nice fella he'd been before, luckily BEFORE he got in trouble with the law.

Don't underestimate the effects those drugs can have on minds AND bodies.

'Gazza' (Gascoine) did a radio interview about Moat. They'd been friends from being 3. The interview took place BEFORE the suicide. 'Gazza' spoke about a 'lovely' man who destroyed his body and mind.

My heart goes out to his young family, relatives and friends.

It also goes out to the families and friends of his victims.

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Quote: JohnWolf21


Foxes are beautifull little creatures, show some respect vicar.

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Leprechaun wolves John.

That's all they are.

Cough! Cough!

That was an eloquent post Lynton and I think everyone on the forum should read what you have stated.

It is a fine line we walk when creating spoofs. I think the individual has a heart and knows when the line has been crossed. But humour will always be found in any senario.
Within an hour of the world trade centre tradgy, I was recieving jokes.

Lynton is correct, we do not know anything about Moat other than what the press have told us. Can they be trusted?
And if I were Moats victims or thier families, would I find THE SPOOF funny?

If we dive into a pit of Vipers, there is a chance we will be bitten, but, it is the excitement of the dare that attracts us, not the thought of the danger.

Arm

Arm, I totally agree. I avoided spoofing R. Moat. I don't like to see anyone in such pain.

What upsets me now is the sarcasm in comments that followed Lynton's post.

Sad that writers have to resort to 'attacking' another writer when they could have used their time to comment in a much more productive way.

Bloody hell..

This place is growing..

Arm & Lady G.. Yer both stars,,,

Don't worry about Lynton..

He's too busy looking after my sanity to take petty things to heart..

Then there's Skoob.

But I won't go DOWN that route...