The sad story of the hunt for the lone gunman Raoul Moat had many of the ingredients of classic crime fiction: a countryside location; an outsider against the law and an extraordinary set of tragic circumstances that unfolded over time. In this edition of Thinking Allowed Laurie Taylor speaks to Michael Rowe, a criminologist at the centre of the crisis. He gave countless media interviews at the time and has now conducted a study of how 24 hour news media used the rubric of crime fiction to present events in a gripping way. He argues, however, that it was a method in which truth and understanding seem to have been amongst the victims.

Producer: Charlie Taylor.