Moat Warned: 'It Ends In This Field Tonight'

The firearms officer who fired a shotgun Taser at Raoul Moat seconds before the killer took his own life said he was "convinced" he was going to shoot himself.

The West Yorkshire Police officer told the inquest into Moat's death that he discharged the Taser round after cornered Moat put his sawn-off shotgun to the side of his head.

But he said the electronic projectile from the X12 Taser did not appear to have any effect despite hitting him in the chest.

He told the jury he had "let out a noise like he'd been hit with something, before he rocked back slowly and discharged his shotgun".

The officer, referred to as Zulu 24 to protect his identity, said Moat had earlier seemed to have developed a good rapport with negotiators.

At one stage he told officers the location of a gun he had stashed in nearby woodland because he feared it would be found by children.

But he said the situation took a turn for the worse when Moat started saying "I don't want to be a drain in society", and that he "didn't want to go back to jail".

Moat then declared loudly: "It's all going to end in this field tonight."

'Zulu 24' said: "(That) changed the whole tone of the containment. Made it more sinister, for want of a better word."

It was after police refused to allow Moat to see his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart - whom he had earlier shot and injured - that the dialogue broke down completely. Minutes later he was dead.

The officer said he was unaware of anyone else discharging a weapon other than himself and Moat.

Earlier, the Sergeant who had lead the firearms team said he heard two of his officers fire XREP shotgun Taser rounds at Moat before the gunman shot himself.

The Sergeant, known as Tango 21, told the coroner at Newcastle Crown Court that he had little knowledge about the X12 shotgun Tasers before two of his men were equipped with them.

He was briefed about the weapons, which had not been approved by the Home Office, by telephone just hours before the stand-off with Moat.

He passed the information to his officers just minutes before they took up positions.

He said he and his officers were all trained in the use of shotguns and Tasers and were confident in their ability to use the X12 despite knowing little about it.

If they had not been handed them, officer Zulu 24 said Moat may have been shot with conventional weapons because of the perceived threat he posed.

On the day of the stand-off in Rothbury, Northumberland, last July - which followed a manhunt lasting several days - he said there was "no alternative to the X12".