Raoul Moat and his great mate Gazza

There is no doubt that the funniest aspect of the Raoul Moat story is Gazza. He turned up in the middle of the siege with some supplies for Mr Moat and an urge to talk him into putting the gun down. The police wouldn't allow him to talk to the surrounded man but unfortunately were unable to stop him talking to Real Radio.

There is some great material here, truly surreal and funny. Here is the full transcript. Here are some highlights:

PG: Doesn’t matter. He’s killed someone. Which is not nice, really. Obviously he must have been on drugs, errrm, and he’s shot two people right. Now I’ve heard on the news that obviously the drugs must have worn off. Now he’s willing to give in. Right

...

PG: I’m willing to sit down, to shout, “Moaty, it’s Gazza”, all I want to shout is “Moaty it’s Gazza, where are you” and I guarantee he will shout his name out, “I’m here” and me and him could sit and chat, have a little bit of fishing and all I’ll tell him, Moaty. Listen.
...

PG: Listen, I drove from Newcastle in a taxi to Rothbury, cost a lot of money. I brought a dressing gown for him, I brought a big jacket, I brought some chicken, some bread, I know you’re going to love this one, I brought him a can of lager, I brought him a fishing rod cause I heard he’s by the river. And I brought a fishing rod too, we’ll fish together, I’ll have a chat with him…..just talk and, cause I think I’m the only man…I can help him through this cause I’ve…

Surreal, funny and of course tragic. The delusions of a man run low by fame, money and a gigantic thirst. It's so sad. But not as sad as the current re-writing of Moat as anything but a thug and small minded bully. Don't let it happen. It's bullshit. Don't let the scum win.

UPDATE: The News of the World (shit) have some pictures of Gazza at the scene.