PC blinded by Raoul Moat threatened to kill himself over FaceTime in front of his wife after she refused to take him back

The policeman blinded by Raoul Moat threatened to hang himself during a video call while his wife was watching, an inquest heard today.

But the police family liaison officer who was told about his 'bizarre' threat said she did not believe PC David Rathband would go through with it.

DC Alison Brown, who wept as she gave evidence, told the coroner's court how she had been concerned about the wounded policeman in the weeks before he was found dead.

The 44-year-old had been left blind and fighting for his life after gunman Raoul Moat shot him twice while he was on the run in July 2010.

He went on to win national praise for the way he tackled his new disability, creating the Blue Lamp Foundation to help emergency workers injured at work.

But in February 2012 he was found hanged at the three-storey townhouse in Blyth, Northumberland, which he had moved into following a domestic incident with his wife.

Giving evidence DC Brown, who worked with the Rathband family after he was shot, said he made the threat to kill himself to his estranged wife Kath.

The liaison officer, who said her professional relationship with the family eventually developed into a personal one, said she never thought he would actually kill himself.

Mr Rathband threatened to kill himself while on FaceTime - which is Apple's video calling facility, the inquest in Moot Hall, Newcastle, heard.

'She (Kath) said he was thinking of hanging himself and would put his phone onto FaceTime so she could see him doing it,' she said.

'I thought it was such a bizarre thing to say. Saying you're going to hang yourself and do it on FaceTime is bizarre.

'David had never said to me personally that he had any suicidal thoughts. I knew there was these Twitter posts and what he said to Kath but he never said anything to me.

'For someone to say that, I just thought it was an awful thing to say.

'I was concerned for his well-being and his mental state but I did not think he would kill himself.'

DC Brown contacted PC Rathband while he was in Australia staying with his brother because she was concerned about him.

She became worried about some 'random' Tweets the officer sent.

DC Brown said: 'I sent an email to Inspector John Heckles saying I was concerned about David and he rang me. He planned to pick David up from the airport when he returned.

'The random tweets were contradictory to the happy family photos that were being posted on Facebook by David’s brother.'

While David was in Australia DC Brown spoke to a friend of David’s, Tony Horn, and told him something needed to be done to help David but 'whether he would accept it would be another matter'.

On the day of David’s death DC Brown was on duty at the Etal Lane police station in Newbiggin Hall, Newcastle.

At around 6.25pm she received a personal message on Facebook from Debbie Essery, David’s sister, expressing concern after Kath Rathband told her about David’s state.

In the message Mrs Essery told DC Brown that David was 'slowly killing himself.'

DC Brown rang Kath Rathband who told her she had found David in his pajamas, looking 'awful'.

DC Brown said: 'At this point I was not concerned for his immediate safety but I was concerned about his well being and mental state. I didn’t think that David would hang himself.

'The fact David did not answer his telephone did not concern me as this had been typical of his behaviour since moving back to Blyth.'

DCI Nicola Musgrove was informed about the situation in a phone call from CD Brown at 8.04pm, but did not dispatch an officer to David's address until 8.24pm.

DCI Musgrove told the court she was 'extremely concerned' for David's welfare despite waiting nearly half an hour to send a police officer to his address. 

She said she discussed with Superintendent James Napier who would be best to send to David's address to check on his welfare.

She said: 'There was a need to check the information first rather than have that information third hand.  Action wasn't put on hold, there was gathering of information. Police activity was going on.

'He had to check that he was ok. We couldn't ignore it but we had to balance it against other information about threats he made in the past. We couldn't guess what the outcome was going to be at that time.'

Superintendent James Napier said: 'It was reported by an off duty police officer and friend of the family - that negated the immediacy.

'For me there was no immediacy around this situation. This is because Mrs Rathband did not know if these threats were real and the information was incomplete.

'I wanted a swift response, not an immediate response. I wasn't prepared to wait an hour as I knew there would be travelling time and difficulties getting to his house but I wasn't prepared to send an immediate response.

'I wanted more information about what was getting reported and it was getting reported to me that the police were not to be involved. As it was we were involved.'

Inspector David Guthrie was sent to David Rathband's house and met with Sgt Patterson and David's welfare officer John Heckles. They gained access at 9.25pm.

As he entered the property he heard music playing before seeing 'material hanging down with a dark shape'.

Inspector Guthrie said: 'There was a slight delay as I had to call for the enforcer team. I can confirm we forced entry at 9.25pm.

'When we gained entry the three of us identified ourselves and then went upstairs to the first floor. 

'I heard music but I was not sure where it was coming from. Then I saw material hanging down with a dark shape. Inspector Heckles ran forward to support his body and I cut the ligature. 

'The two paramedics joined us to carry out CPR. Inspector Heckles received a call on his mobile telephone, it was Mrs Rathband that was calling and he left the address. I saw no sign if breathing from David. He appeared lifeless.'