A former officer with the Northamptonshire Police, 57-year-old Peter Boatman was the director of operations for Pro-Tect Systems, the company which supplied a number of X-12 Tasers used during the recent police ‘stand-off’ with Raoul Moat, writes Brian Sims.
Pro-Tect Systems, in which Boatman was a 50% partner, had gained a lucrative Government contract rendering the company the only legal supplier of Tasers in Britain. Over 4,000 ‘stun guns’ were subsequently sold to the police service and military forces.
However, earlier last week the Home Office took the decision to revoke Daventry-based Pro-Tect Systems’ licence to import and sell Tasers after the firm allegedly breached its terms by supplying the implements (which were apparently still being tested by Government-led experts) directly to the police involved in the Moat manhunt.
Northamptonshire Police has said that, “due to recent police contact with the deceased”, the force has voluntarily referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) at 90 High Holborn.
Boatman was found dead last Friday at the family home in Kingsthorpe. The managing director of Pro-Tect Systems, Kevin Coles, and his colleagues at the company are said to be “devastated” by the news and sharing “a state of shock and grief” with the members of Boatman’s family (including his surviving wife, Stephanie, daughter Chloe and son Kiel).
An inquest into the Moat episode at Newcastle Civic Centre was told that armed police fired two Tasers in an “effort to stop him [Moat] taking his own life” in the Riverside park area of Rothbury, Northumberland during the early hours of 10 July. The Tasers can deliver up to 20 seconds of electric shock in bullet-like XRep capsules from a standard 12-gauge shotgun or an X12 unit.
The police stand-off with the former nightclub door supervisor, who was addicted to steroids, concluded a week-long manhunt triggered when Moat shot his former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, killed her new boyfriend (29-year-old Chris Brown) and tragically blinded PC David Rathband.
A personal tribute to ‘Boaty’ by Bill Fox
“Friday 1 October saw the loss of a man who did so much to promote the personal safety of workers and members of the public in potentially violent encounters,” writes Bill Fox.
“Peter was best known for his contribution to officer safety, for which he was awarded the Queens Police Medal. However, his pioneering work extended across many sectors and he was respected as a leader in his field in North America and Europe.”
Fox continued: “I had the pleasure of working with Peter on officer safety and then again at Maybo before the Taser project demanded his full-time commitment. He worked incredibly hard, and always with a desire to make a positive difference. To my way of thinking, Peter was entirely deserving of the success he achieved as an expert in his field and in business.”
Fox went on to state: “Despite his workload and the pressures induced by the Raoul Moat incident, Peter still took the time to contribute to employer guidance being launched this month on the use of physical intervention by security operatives. This is so typical of Peter. He was always willing to help anyone who asked for advice, and was ever-reliable and enthusiastic.”
It wasn’t just staff safety issues that interested Boatman. “He made a real difference to public safety, working with Dr Tony Bleetman and others to raise awareness of the vulnerability of individuals being restrained.”
Boatman led the introduction of the Taser as a non-lethal force option. “Indeed, this system has saved the lives of many individuals, some of whom would otherwise have been shot prior to the Taser being issued,” suggested Fox.
“I do not know the details of the alleged licence infringements in regard to the issue of Taser’s in the Raoul Moat incident, but one thing is for sure – Peter Boatman would have had the best interests of everyone involved in mind.”
Fox concluded: “Peter set very high personal and professional standards and, perhaps, the recent criticism he had to endurte was more than this proud man could bear. There are those that do and those that criticise, and Peter – like all pioneers of change – had his share of battles, but he always bounced back and this is why we have been so shocked by the news of his passing. A great loss to us all.”
