‘I just remember I was in a taxi, with a fishing rod and some chicken’: Paul Gascoigne breaks his silence on his ‘mad’ plan to befriend Raoul Moat at the height of the killer’s stand-off with police
- Paul Gascoigne made a taxi driver take him to Rothbury where Moat was
- Didn’t know Moat but thought he would be able to help him with his experience
- Officers asked Gazza if he knew Moat personally when he turned up there
Paul Gascoigne has revealed how he tried to ‘save’ one of Britain’s most wanted men Raoul Moat.
The 52-year-old has opened up about how he wanted to befriend Moat during his time on the run.
It was 10-years-ago, when Moat had a standoff with Northumberland Police that the former England star claimed he was most vulnerable with his addiction battle and said he had been in a taxi with a fishing rod and four cans of lager.
In July 2010 Moat was on the run and had been near the woodland area surrounding Rothbury.
Paul Gascoigne (pictured above) has revealed how he tried to ‘save’ one of Britain’s most wanted men Raoul Moat
Raoul Moat (above), who died in 2010 following a shooting spree in which he killed Chris Brown, and shot his former partner Samantha Stobbart and PC David Rathband
Speaking to The Mirror, Gazza said: ‘I thought that I could take Raoul Moat fishing because he was near a river. I told the taxi driver ‘head for the airport’ and then when we got to Newcastle airport I said ‘head for Rothbury’.
‘The taxi driver said ‘you are not going where I think you are going?’ And I said ‘yes I am’.’
He said he went on to tell the taxi driver that he could ‘save Moat’ because he had been through so much himself.
When Gazza got out of the taxi he said he headed straight for the field where Moat was surrounded by police.
Video grab shows murderer Raoul Moat lying on the riverbank in Rothbury with a shotgun point to his head
Police pictured on Friday evening, during their confrontation with fugitive Raoul Moat
He asked police ‘where’s Moaty’, and one officer asked if he knew him personally, to which Gazza denied.
Gazza said rumours then started to circulate as to how he knew Moat with some saying they had been friends.
They had never met, but as the situation around Moat intensified, Gazza found himself on TV screens.
It was the next day on July 10 that Moat shot himself after becoming surrounded by police.
Gazza then woke up to text messages and voicemail messages asking him about the incident.
At the time of his death Moat had been on the run for a week after being released from Durham prison.
Just two days after his release the 37-year-old wounded his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart before he shot dead her boyfriend Chris Brown on July 3.
Just hours later he left PC David Rathband blind, he took his own life two years later.
On July 10 Moat took his own life.
Last month Gazza revealed how he had a Christmas alcohol relapse despite having £20,000 anti-pellets in his groin.
The former England star has blown his £20million fortune from his playing career and gone in and out of rehab because of alcohol-related problems since retiring.
Paul Gascoigne’s £20k anti-boozing operation
The former England star spent £20,000 on an operation to install anti-booze pellets in a bid to curb his unhealthy relationship with drinking.
He was allegedly considering the procedure in 2013 but it could not be carried out as the ex-England player had reportedly drunk in the seven days leading up to it.
Paul Gascoigne looking frail and weak as he is escorted from his Bournemouth home by police to an ambulance in 2014. He was seen carrying a bottle of gin and cigarettes in Bournemouth’s town centre
Footballer George Best also had the pellets implanted into his stomach to help him kick the booze in 2005.
Best battled alcoholism since he left Manchester United in 1975. He was arrested for drink driving in 1985 and an interview with Terry Wogan in 1990 was cut short as he was drunk.
He previously visited Scandinavia where he was given the pellets but these wore out quickly, according to the former player.
Best allegedly got back on the booze and needed a liver transplant before he died at 59.
Former footballer George Best is seen pouring champagne into glasses. He was given Antabuse pellets to help kick his drinking habit in 2005
The Antabuse implants, which could have been given to Gascoigne, release a chemical called disulfiram which interferes with the break down of alcohol in the body.
It blocks the reaction which sees alcohol oxidised and causes the build up of a poisonous chemical acetaldehyde – leading to head aches and vomiting with even small amounts of alcohol consumed.
People will experience similar symptoms of a hangover with a drop in blood pressure, dizziness, severe sweating and shortness of breath upon drinking alcohol.
In extreme cases, continuing to drink with the implant can lead to heart failure, coma and death.