Moat, Facebook and David Cameron

[Maaddeey]

Facebook snubs MPs' calls to drop Raoul Moat fan page

 

David Cameron says page for 'callous murderer' is insensitive to his victims, as police make three more arrests

 

A woman lays flowers at the spot where Raoul Moat took his own life. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA

 

Facebook said it would resist MPs' calls to remove a page set up in honour of Raoul Moat, the fugitive who shot his former girlfriend, her boyfriend and a police officer before killing himself after he went on the run for a week.

 

David Cameron condemned public sympathy for Moat today and described the gunman as a "callous murderer".

 

The prime minister said he could not understand "any wave of public sympathy for this man". Any sympathy should be directed towards Moat's victims, he said.

 

Flowers have been left where Moat killed himself in the village of Rothbury in Northumberland.

 

Chris Heaton-Harris, Conservative MP for Daventry, suggested Cameron should contact Facebook to ask it to remove the RIP Raoul Moat page.

 

Heaton-Harris said the page contained anti-police statements, which should be taken down. Cameron said he was making a "very good point".

 

Facebook said it had no plans to take down the Moat tribute page, which has more than 29,500 followers, some of whom have attacked the police and Moat's former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart.

 

A spokeswoman said: "We have spoken to No 10. We believe the group is a reflection of what people are debating offline in pubs and elsewhere. When you have 26 million people on Facebook [in the UK] you are going to have many very different opinions.

 

"Just because some people are saying he is a hero or a lunatic does not mean that the page should be taken down."

 

Northumbria police arrested three more people for allegedly assisting Moat, bringing the number of arrests to 13.

[Maaddeey]

16 July 2010 Last updated at 09:43

Second Raoul Moat Facebook tribute page put up

 

The second webpage has attracted 12,000 supporters Another Facebook page sympathising with gunman Raoul Moat has appeared - just hours after the first one was removed.

 

The RIP Raoul Moat You Legend page, which attracted 35,000 members, was removed after it came under fire from Prime Minister David Cameron.

 

Another page, with 12,000 members, has gone up describing Moat as a "loving father and canny lad".

 

The 37-year-old was on the run in Northumberland for a week after shooting three people, one fatally.

 

The former Respect MP, George Galloway, said he believed the tribute page reflected the beliefs of a section of society.

 

He said: "I think it is a cry from the heart from poor, white, working class, unemployed people who are drifting on to dangerous shores.

 

"They hate the government, they hate the police, they hate society and feel left behind."

 

 

Moat shot his former girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, 22, killed her new partner, Chris Brown, and wounded Pc David Rathband.

 

He was involved in a six-hour stand-off with armed officers, which ended when the former nightclub doorman apparently shot himself in the early hours of last Saturday.

 

Northumbria Police has now finished searching Rothbury for weapons, meaning the village's annual music festival will get under way later.

 

Rothbury councillor Stephen Bridgett said local people were disgusted with floral tributes left at the spot where Moat died and wanted life to get back to normal.

 

He said: "Rothbury wants to move on and I've not spoken to a single person who supports the flowers.

 

"They are offensive and we do not want the area to become a shrine to Moat.

 

"The police have assured us there will be an increased presence this weekend to make sure more unwanted characters do not come to pay tribute."

 

Siobhan O'Dowd, who put up the original Facebook page, confirmed she had taken it down, but has not ruled out putting it back up.

 

She told Talksport radio she did not condone Moat's actions but said "he was still a human being".

 

A total of 15 people have been arrested during the Moat inquiry. - two have been charged with conspiracy to murder and have been remanded in custody.

 

Eight people in total have been released on bail.

[Archdemos]

people always seem to be attracted to the anti hero. the only issue i have with Mr Moat is he didn't really do anything positive like Snake Plissken in Escape from New York (1981), except murder and maim people.

 

This reminds me of when those women who become attracted and eventually marry serial killers in prison. I have no explanation. :eek:

 

PS! there is symptothy towards Moat because he alludes to 'not being allowed to go straight' by the police. Therefore he was a troubled man who should've been given more help.