Ex-England star attempts to end siege with “can of lager”
Paul Gascoigne has arrived at the scene of a siege with armed fugitive Raoul Moat to lend his support to the suspected killer. The 43-year-old is in the village of Rothbury, Northumbria, where Moat was rumoured to have been hiding since shooting his ex-girlfriend, killing her new partner and shooting a police officer last weekend.
He told Metro Radio: “He is willing to give in now. I just want to give him some therapy and say ‘come on Moaty, it’s Gazza’.
“He is all right – simply as that and I am willing to help him. I have come all the way from Newcastle to Rothbury to find him, have a chat with him.
“I guarantee, Moaty, he won’t shoot me. I am good friends with him.”
Gascoigne, a frequent visitor to Rothbury to go fishing, described himself as a “good friend” of Moat’s and had arrived at the scene of an armed stand-off with police with a “can of lager, some chicken, a mobile phone and something to keep warm”.
Gazza’s agent agent Kenny Shepherd didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic about the plan. He said: “He’s doing what? I am sitting having an evening meal in Majorca. I’m speechless.”