Raoul Moat boasted 'I'll be back inside by Friday', court hears

Trial of two men accused of aiding fugitive hears how gunman told barber he had 'a few things to do' hours before spree

Raoul Moat told a barber he would "back inside by Friday" shortly before he shot three people with a shotgun, a court heard today.

The boast was heard at the trial of two men accused of helping the fugitive. Karl Ness, 26, and Ness's friend Qhuram Awan, 23, deny the attempted murder PC Rathband, who was shot and blinded by Moat. Ness also denies the murder of Chris Brown, who Moat shot dead on 3 July last year in Birtley, Gateshead.

Newcastle crown court heard that shortly before his shooting spree began, Moat, a former bouncer who had just been released from Durham prison, told a barber during a haircut he had "a few things to do". "I've got a few arses to kick," he said. "I'll probably be back inside by Friday."

Moat, 37, became obsessed that his former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, was seeing another man after ending their six-year relationship, the court heard. Robert Smith QC, prosecuting, said Moat was determined to track down her new boyfriend and was "bent on revenge".

Smith told the jury that the events in question arise out of the actions of Moat, "who in the course of less than 24 hours shot and killed one man and used the same weapon, a shortened double-barrelled shotgun, to inflict severe and life-threatening injuries on two other people."

He added: "The case which you are to try involves two men who, the prosecution say, were Moat's willing accomplices. Both men were also parties to a criminal conspiracy to commit offences which also involved Raoul Moat effectively to shoot police officers."

Less than 24 hours after shooting Stobbart and Brown, Moat blasted Rathband in Denton Burn, Newcastle, as the officer carried out "his ordinary duties", the jury heard.

"He left PC Rathband severely injured and blinded for life. The following day Moat entered a fish and ship shop in Seaton Delaval carrying the weapon he had! used in the preceding two days. He threatened the proprietor and staff and forced them to hand over takings."

In the days leading up to the shootings, Moat ordered Ness to "stake-out" Stobbart's house to find out if it was true that she was having a relationshipwith another man.

The court heard Ness worked for Moat's gardening firm and kept the business and his home running while he was in jail. Awan was a friend of Ness who worked at a garage in Byker, which Moat began to use.

In one call from prison, Moat asked Ness to text Stobbart that when he got out "he was going to kick her nice and proper", the court heard. He told him to go through her bins and to watch for visiting cars.

The prosecution claimed Moat's conversations with Ness on the phone were part of a plan to acquire a shotgun to be used on Brown, and that the defendant was "a willing accomplice".

Smith continued: "Karl Ness was a willing participant in planning and carrying out that shooting and Ness, together with Qhuram Awan, went on to assist Moat to shoot PC Rathband and after that carry out the armed robbery which Moat committed in Seaton Delaval."

The prosecution said it should be made clear that Awan was not there when Moat shot Brown and Stobbart.

Both Ness of Dudley, North Tyneside, and Awan of Blyth, North Tyneside, also deny charges of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, and robbery.

The defendants were arrested in Rothbury, Northumberland, days before Moat killed himself after a six-hour standoff on the banks of the River Coquet in July. He had been on the run for a week.

The trial, which could last five weeks, continues.