Two police officers shot Moat with new unapproved Taser 'rifles' before killer turned gun on himself

Killer Raoul Moat was shot by two officers using controversial new unapproved Taser guns around the time he turned his gun on himself during a tense six-hour stand-off with police.

The officers were armed with the XREP weapon - a pump-action 'rifle' more powerful than the standard hand-held Taser, which does not have full Home Office approval, the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed today.

An inquest into Moat's death heard that police deployed the guns in an attempt to stop the 37-year-old killing himself on a riverbank in Rothbury, Northumberland, on Saturday.

Investigation: A police officer holding a high-powered Taser gun during the hunt for Raoul Moat

It is not clear whether the Tasers were fired before or after the former nightclub bouncer turned his gun on himself, Independent Police Complaints Commission Steve Reynolds said.

The senior investigator told the hearing at Newcastle Civic Centre in Newcastle: 'At about 19.25 on Friday the 9th July a member of the public sighted Raoul Moat on Riverside, Rothbury and alerted police.

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'Armed police contained Mr Moat and negotiators were deployed hoping to allow a peaceful end.

'He was in possession of a sawn-off shotgun and had it pointed at his head. At 1.12am Mr Moat's shotgun discharged, resulting in him receiving fatal injuries.

Stand-off: Raoul Moat was shot by two officers with Tasers around the time he turned his gun on himself

'At some point around the time of the fatal shot two West Yorkshire firearms officers armed with Tasers discharged their weapons at Mr Moat.

'This was understood to have been in an effort to prevent Mr Moat taking his own life.

'At this stage the precise sequence of events regarding the discharge of Taser has not been established and is under investigation.'

Moat's cause of death was given as a gunshot wound to the head.

The killer - who had been on the run for a week after shooting his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbard and gunning down her new lover Chris Brown - was holding a shotgun to his neck during the police stand-off.

The powerful XREP - eXtended Range Electronic Projectile - has a range of 100ft rather than 21ft and fires a series of barbed electrodes delivering a 20-second, 500-volt shock.

After Moat shot himself, his brother Angus, 39, hit out at officers for using the guns - claiming that a reaction to the Taser could be to blame for Moat's death.

At the time, he said: 'I'm thinking - you discharge a Taser on a man who is soaked to the skin, in a rainstorm, who has got a gun pointed at his head, with his finger on the trigger?

'He's going to go into muscle spasm and there's going to be an involuntary reaction in every muscle in his body including his finger muscles, which are on the trigger of the gun.

Controversial: The XREP Taser is a pump-action weapon more powerful than the standard hand-held version

'He's going to have an involuntary reaction and pull the trigger, and he's going to die and he might not necessarily have ever wanted to.'

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the matter.

Today, the Home Office confirmed the XREP Taser was not approved for use by forces in England and Wales and is undergoing testing.

A spokesman said: 'It is currently subject to testing by the HOSDB (Home Office Scientific Development Branch).

'However, legally, police forces have discretion to use any equipment they see fit as long as the use of force is lawful, reasonable and proportionate.

'The process for approval of less lethal weapons is set out in a Home Office code of practice document on police use of firearms which Chief Constables must "have regard to".'

The two parts of a spent shotgun shell Taser round used by the long-range XREP gun

It comes as another three men were arrested by Northumbria Police during raids today in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead.

A spokesman said: 'Three men have been arrested this morning in connection with assisting an offender during the search for Raoul Moat. The men were arrested from two addresses in Gateshead and one in Newcastle.

'At this stage, the investigation is still ongoing and further arrests cannot be ruled out.'

The development brings the number of arrests concerning Moat to 10.

Two men have been remanded in custody by Newcastle magistrates until 22 July, to appear at the city's crown court on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a firearm.

Another two men have been released on police bail.

A man and a woman were arrested in Blyth, Northumberland, on Thursday, also allegedly on suspicion of assisting an offender.