PC Rathband the policeman blinded by Raoul Moat found dead at home.

[carernotasaint]

At the moment it is a suspected suicide but the news was only released 20 mins ago so they cant be 100% sure.

Such a needless waste. I had a very uncomfortable feeling months and months ago that this might happen. I don't know the man but I just got that kind of vibe somehow from everything reported about him. RIP.

Don't know what punge is posting which is being deleted but dread to think.

Have some bloody compassion those of you making negative comments. This man was a tortured soul and a thread about his suicide is NOT the place to be discussing his marriage or faults etc. This man paid the ultimate price due to public service - have some respect.

I did wonder how long it would be before the wife/woman blaming started.
Didnt take long.

A few months ago, PC Rathband gave an interview to the Sun in which he said

"Let me set the record straight on one thing ? Kath and I are still married. I still wear my wedding ring and she wears hers. We still speak to each other and meet. But I need to find myself as a person. I need to get my life back and try to live independently.

I can't expect to spend the next 30 years with my wife looking after me. She is an amazing person ? absolutely amazing after what she's gone through with all of this.

My wife and children are the lost voices in all of this. But they have suffered ten-fold what I have."

Well said Orka

Highlander - I have reported your post.

why?

Highlander if thats true thats awful.

why? If it's true it's not any less so now that he is dead, is it?

What happened to him is tragic, but let's be honest - the man was made a hero not because of his actions but because of becoming a victim. And meanwhile there are people on this thread and others who are prepared to lay the blame for his death at the door of his wife who, if what highlander said above is true, was herself a victim.

I hate this attitude that one must never say anything bad about someone because they are dead. Dying doesn't make them less of a bad person or absolve the things they have done..

Good post wannaBe i absolutely agree wholeheartedly.
I think people who are trying to blame his poor wife are hitting below the belt.
It really shows up the woman blaming culture we seem to have.

The person to blame is Raoul Moat

I didn't say he was a hero but I find it distasteful for people to repeat unfounded rumours about a man who was brutally maimed and, as a consequence, found life so unbearable that he hanged himself.

I know officers who knew PC Rathband, if he was a violent person then it's very doubtful he would have stayed in this job for 12 years, I know there was one reported incident, after the shooting for which he was arrested, but the strain of dealing with the aftermath and disability must have been terrible, and I doubt anyone could withstand that kind of strain without cracking at some point. I feel that both David, his wife and his family were all victims of Moat in this tragedy. It is all just terribly sad. And speaking as a bobby I see acts of heroics often, but unsung. We face terrible risks in our working life, and what happened to David could have happened to any officer. It hits home when another officer dies or is injured while on duty. it reminds me to kiss my lot as I leave for work.

Point I was trying to make that there is 'concern' locally that his wife will be villified; when in fact she was put in an awful position. It goes without saying that I should have also added that is is hideous that he was left without professional support that ultimately led him to take his own life. I can't imagine the hell his wife and children have been through.

The lack of support from his employers was horrifying.

He wasn't left without a job though, was he? I'm sure I remember reading that they found him some sort of police job. What went wrong there, I wonder.

percy - he was due to return at the end of the month

So dreadfully sad. Poor, poor man.

At the end of the day he was pretty much a decent man I think - ignoring Any rumours - and sympathies for his family. Only he and his family truly know what he was going through.

Still pleased that a scum lowlife like Raoul moat is dead ....