Friends ‘helping fugitive gunman’

BRITISH detectives were last night trying to unravel a network of accomplices suspected of harbouring gunman Raoul Moat as he widened his deadly threats from police to the public.

Senior investigators believe the former doorman has been supported by friends who helped him remain a step ahead of one of the biggest police manhunts in living memory.

As the search stretched into its sixth day, police admitted the rugged Northumbria terrain around isolated Rothbury was helping Moat avoid capture.