Inquest into Moat victim's death

An inquest into the death of a karate instructor who was blasted by gun maniac Raoul Moat will start today.

Chris Brown, 29, was gunned down in cold blood after starting a relationship with Moat's ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, two days after the spurned lover was released from jail in July 2010. Ms Stobbart was also badly injured by shotgun pellets but survived.

Moat went on the run and the next night shot and blinded Pc David Rathband, who was unarmed and sitting in his marked police car.

Coroner Terence Carney will hold a two-week inquest at Newcastle Crown Court into the circumstances of Mr Brown's murder in Birtley, Gateshead.

This hearing follows the Crown Court trial of two of Moat's accomplices and an inquest into how Moat shot himself during a stand-off with police in Rothbury, Northumberland.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission and an internal prison inquiry have looked at details of Moat's release from Durham Prison, including information passed on by jail staff that Moat planned revenge.

At a pre-inquest hearing, Mr Carney said those hearings had not allowed relatives of Mr Brown, who was from Slough, Berkshire, to ask questions.

An inquest for Mr Rathband, who was found hanged at his home last year, will be heard next month.