MOAT MUST HANG

"If the technology were available, i'd move that Moat be brought back to life, have his eyes removed and given to PC David Rathband, then be required to spend 700 years (yes there is immortality technology involved too just go with me on this) tidying up Rathband's house and putting the bins out, that kind of thing, and also he has wear clothes two sizes too small for him. And a trilby." Rebecca Bromley, Manchester

"Death is too good for Moat, we should all kill ourselves too then join him in Hell and make sure he -really- suffers. Maybe put things up his bum too." Daniel Labrador, Newcastle

"If you rearrange the letters in 'Raoul Moat', add some more letters and take other letters away, you get the words 'Shotgun Mentalist' which tells me the Home Office have really dropped the fucking ball on this one. Actually was he born over here? Raoul sounds a bit 9/11 doesn't it?" Melanie Ray aged 6 and 1/2

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I have to say how fucking tedious it is when the media uses facebook groups as a reflection of anything, ever. Facebook is designed so that connecting; making friends, 'liking' things, telling people what you had for lunch etc, is all just a few keystrokes/mouse clicks away. Conversely, acts like removing facebook friends require you to first spot the adverb in an Arabic haiku then win a game of tic tac toe where the computer gets the first two goes before finally getting to the necessary screen.

The point i'm making is, joining a group takes all of 1 second, and requires no real effort or thought beyond "lol i'm on facebook". So if 100,000 people join the group "I Hate Jam So Much!", can we expect 100,000 angry protesters to march down to Tiptree to smash up some loganberries? It's not likely, and that's not just because loganberry jam is delicious.

So, over 35,ooo people joined the facebook group 'RIP Raoul Moat You Legend'. BROKEN SODDING BRITAIN. How many of these people genuinely believe he is a legend?

Q. Who actually, entirely, and utterly believes that a man who shoots three innocent people, killing one, and blinding another, is a legend?

A. Nobody, really.

I would imagine the group comprises of three different types of people:

1) 'LOL u r kiddin me a rip moat page i am so off the wall tho im gonna join dis group so my friendz r like "Jade u r 2 much! lol" dats juts me tho wysiwyg'

2) 'Wahey, all police are cunts aren't they?! Can't believe he evaded the pigs for so long wahey what a bloody joker! Pure LEDGE in my book mate dousanothercarlingmate'

3) 'The world/internet is full of reactionary tosspots and by feigning support for Moat I can get some of you Daily Mail-reading spastics to foam at the mouth, bang your fat fists on your keyboard and get all angry because your life is devoid of any meaning or expression and you fail to see the irony in telling me you'll shoot me 'in the face with a fucking shotgun' for not agreeing with you.'

So, if a meeting were announced tomorrow in Trafalgar Square, celebrating the life and times of Raoul Moat, how many people from this facebook group would turn up? Do these 35,ooo+ people all log out of facebook chat, make colourful signage and have unabashed interviews with the BBC detailing just why they think he's a legend?

No. So can people stop pretending that these thousands of people have had a detailed analysis of the facts, numerous conversations with peers looking at both sides of the argument, before reaching the conclusion that yes, Moat = Legend?

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This whole Moatfacegate also raises two more issues. Firstly, freedom of speech. David Cameron can piss off whining at facebook and get back to fucking up the country for everyone; there is nothing illegal about the page and there wouldn't be such a furore over it if the papers didn't shove it in everyones faces as they have their morning tea and loganberry jam on toast. It's in poor taste sure, but just let it slide down peoples newsfeeds and into obscurity, christ. Freedom of speech can be a contentious issue when people go beyond such sentiments as "puppies are brilliant" but i'd argue a facebook group calling a dead man a legend is far less damaging than one which actually spreads and incites fear and hatred (of which there are loads, with far more members than the RIP Moat page). Well done to facebook for just being all 'whatevs' about it.

The other issue is that instead of dusting off our hands, rocking on our heels and pulling our braces forward going "well that's the end of THAT chapter" we should still remember that Moat is a man gone mental, and that we should be looking at what went wrong, and how we can prevent similar events in the future. In dialogue with police and social workers he requested to see a psychiatrist, which I can only assume didn't happen. Also, what was done when he was released from prison for them to be confident he was going to try to rebuild his life, not take others with his own?

Ordinary people don't go around shooting other people in the face but it would be ridiculous and all too convenient to think that all murderers have latent madness to be called upon after they've killed. "We always knew he was going to do something like this" "He always seemed a little peculiar, didn't he?" These are the sort of things people say afterwards. I recall a few years back when some man was arrested on suspicion of killing several prostitutes. Quotes from co-workers and old school friends painted him as a real oddball, and made really quite nasty remarks, all based on the belief he was a killer. There was no apology from them or the press when it transpired he had nothing to do with it, but it just goes to show how easy it is for anyone alleged to have committed a crime to have unflattering pictures posted of them with a crazed look (a drunk photo lifted from facebook, natch) and testimonials from people who knew you, saying you were always a mental cunt and this was a long time coming.

In closing, Moat done gone done a bad thing, and facebook isn't news.