British fugitive kills himself after six-hour standoff with British Police

A spokesman explained how 37-year-old Moat shot himself in a field at Rothbury in Northumberland. He was pronounced dead in hospital at 0220 BST (0120 CEST) this morning.

Earlier, police had confirmed that "no shots were fired by police officers" and no officers had been hurt.

Police had been negotiating with Moat, who was cornered close to a river in Rothbury after a week-long manhunt.

Eyewitness Peter Abiston, whose house overlooks the scene of the incident, told journalists: "There's been a shooting. Paramedics have gone into him.

"From what I can see he shot himself. He lay down and shot himself. I think there was two, but there was certainly one shot," Abiston was quoted as saying.

Other local people overheard some of the negotiations that took place between Moat and the police before he apparently turned his gun on himself.

A guest-house owner, who did not want to be named, was quoted as saying: "He actually said, the one thing that sticks in my mind, 'I haven't got a dad'... and he also said that, 'nobody cares about me'."

Police explained that Moat, a former nightclub bouncer and father-of-three, shot himself at about 0115 BST (0015 CEST).