A BODYBUILDING friend of Raoul Moat tried to blame the dead killer after police found a sawn-off shotgun in his garden.

Richard Reay, 24, was from a good family but fell in with a bad crowd, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The well-paid rigger was jailed for five years after admitting possession of a prohibited weapon.

Officers conducted raids on a number of Moat's associates in the weeks after he had killed himself in July last year.

They searched the flat and garden of Reay's home in Soulby Court, Newcastle, and found an oiled shotgun and 16 cartridges hidden beneath flagstones.

Reay first claimed Moat had been his gardener and had access to the property - implying the dead man had hidden it himself.

He was re-arrested in October after Reay's DNA was found on the weapon, and the defendant told police he recalled Moat had tried to kill himself in 2009.

Jason Pitter, prosecuting, said: ''He had been with Raoul Moat when Raoul Moat threatened to kill himself and in his attempts to get Moat not to do that, he had handled the shotgun.''

Jonathan Devlin, defending, said Reay's position now was that it did not belong to Moat.

''This defendant had an interest in body building and through his training he met people and through misplaced loyalty, he agreed to look after the weapon for someone,'' he said.

Reay did not want to name the person for fear of repercussions, Mr Devlin said.

Mr Justice Simon said: ''It's a potentially deadly weapon and of the type used by criminals to enforce their will.''

Moat killed his love rival Chris Brown and shot his ex-girlfriend Sam Stobbart in Birtley, Gateshead, last July.

He then declared war on police and shot unarmed Pc David Rathband before hiding for a week.

In the weeks after he shot himself in Rothbury, Northumberland, police arrested more than 20 people in connection with their investigations.