*MKILETEWA HAPA NA MISS FB FASHION POLICE*
Sunning himself on a beach towel in Australia while appearing relaxed and happy, this is the tragic last image of Pc David Rathband taken just days before he was found dead.
Just six days after this apparently happy holiday picture was taken and posted on Twitter, the police officer who was shot and blinded by gunman Raoul Moat was discovered dead inside his home in Blyth, Northumberland in a suspected suicide.
Father-of-two Pc Rathband had sent a series of worrying tweets about his own death just days before he was found, and was struggling to cope with his blindness after being shot in the face at close range in July 2010.
Last picture: Pc Rathband, pictured in a Twitter image, suns himself in Australia during his recent four-week trip;
Relaxed: Pc Rathband sits in the sun in Australia in a picture taken before he returned to the UK at the weekend;
He had been left with more than 200 shotgun pellets lodged in his skull.
Pc Rathband, 44, had returned from a four-week trip to Australia at the weekend, and proceeded to post a number of worrying tweets just days before he was found dead.
Holiday: Pc Rathband, pictured with a hat on next to his brother, posted worrying Twitter messages just before he was due to fly home;
In the coming days his police colleagues are sure to examine whether more could have been done to stop him taking his life.
Just hours before he was due to fly home he revealed on Twitter that final efforts to rescue his marriage had failed. In one, he revealed that ‘Mrs R’ just wanted to be friends.
He also tweeted that he had ‘lost my sight, my job, my wife and my marriage’, and wrote: ‘Flying back on Monday and will say goodbye to my children.’
In another tweet he said: ‘RIP PC Rathband.’
Pc Rathband later deleted the tweet but other messages on his Twitter page reveal the level of strain he was under.
On Saturday he tweeted: 'Very emotional few days, but back on track. Now focusing on my trip back to the UK and the road ahead.'
He also told his followers: 'Thank you for your positive comments I'm trying my best I sometimes get it wrong. Sorry.'
Several people had alerted police to the worrying tweets posted by Pc Rathband before his death.
One Twitter user, Shaun Jobson, posted: 'I think someone needs to intervene with David Rathband, his tweets are becomming worrying.'
Another user, Scrappy2710, sent a message to Northumbria Police reading: '@NorthumbriaPol Are you aware of David Rathband's tweets?? Doesn't sound very good at all.'
In a BBC interview last September Pc Rathband revealed how he was struggling to adapt to being blind.
Tragedy: Pc David Rathband, pictured here with his wife Kath who he had separated from, has been found dead, it was confirmed;
He said: 'I have spoken to quite a few people over the last few months and everybody tells me that you have got 10 years before you realise you can deal with being blind.
'At the moment I can't even see the next 12 months.'
Last night a Northumbria police spokesman confirmed Pc Rathband had been found dead at his home.
‘At around 7pm officers received a report of concern for the welfare of PC David Rathband at this home in Blyth.
Fugitive: Raoul Moat shot Pc Rathband in the face while he was sat in his police patrol car, leaving him with 200 shotgun pellets lodged in his skull;
‘Officers attended the scene alongside ambulance services and he was found inside. He was declared dead at the scene.’
Last November, Pc Rathband, 44, announced on Twitter that he had split from his wife Kath, 41, after 20 years.
He had flown back to the UK at the weekend after a four-week trip to Australia where he had surgery to remove pieces of shrapnel from his face.
He had spent time with his brother Darren, who lives in the country.
Sad: Following news of his brother's death, Darren Rathband revealed on Twitter that he was returning to the UK
His brother Darren last night tweeted that he was returning to England after being told about Pc Rathband's death.
He said: 'On way back to the UK, to be at my brothers side. RIP Police Constable 190 David John Rathband. Please support blue lamp foundation.'
Darren's Twitter pages reveal the level of support which he was offering to his brother during the last week.
On Saturday, he tweeted Pc Rathband saying: 'Stick at it brother' before later adding: 'asking 4help does not make you less of a man'.
The following day Darren told him: 'don't give up'.
Last night, Northumbria Police Chief Constable Sue Sim said: 'I am deeply saddened to have to confirm the death of Pc David Rathband and my thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.
Family support: Pc Rathband, pictured with his now estranged wife in 2010, along with the couple's children Ashley and Mia;
'I AM TRYING MY BEST AND IT IS TOUGH': PC DAVID RATHBAND REVEALED HOW HE WAS STRUGGLING WITH LIFE IN A HEARTBREAKING INTERVIEW
Struggled to cope: Pc David Rathband pictured with his former wife Cath;
In September last year Pc Rathband gave an interview with the BBC in which he revealed how he was struggling with life.
Here is a transcript of that interview.
'I'm struggling to deal with being blind. I can deal with being shot, it has happened, I can't change that.
'I am different to other people and everybody is different and what annoys me is that people treat you as a text book case.
'Nobody ever came up to me when I got shot or my family and said you are really going to need some help.
'They just let me get on.
'I do not know whether a lot of this is my own perceptions and insecurities but I hear people's voices when they are talking to me and I feel the resentment in their voice for having to guide me around.
'There's an element that it's my own insecurity that I'm dealing with but I'm quite astute to peoples' characters and always have been.
'I feel as if the majority of people I have worked with or by have forgotten what happened to me, why it happened and what I tried to do.
'Everybody I speak to is of a similar view. It's indicative of being blind. People just think, 'Well, they get on with it'.
'I'm not saying everything has been bad, but for me to be even thinking some of the things I have been about the way I've been treated, that's not right - and I'm not the only one.
'I have spoken to quite a few people over the last few months and everybody tells me that I have got 10 years before you realise you can deal with being blind
'At the moment I can't even see the next 12 months. But I am taking each day as it comes. I am trying my best and it is tough.
'I took a conscious decision when I left hospital that I would try my best for as long as possible to do it on my own with my family, but the camel's back has broken and I can't do it on my own.'
Tragedy: A mourner leaves flowers outside the home of Pc Rathband in Bebside, Northumberland, as news broke about his death;
Tragedy: Pc Rathband's home in Blyth, Northumberland, is cordoned off after he was found dead at around 7pm yesterday evening;
Cordon: Pc Rathband lived alone after separating from his wife of 20 years. Tonight this officer was standing guard outside;
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