Gang kidnapped taxi driver at gunpoint after lying in wait

MEN WERE WAITING FOR THE VICTIM IN JESMOND VALE AND HE WAS TAKEN TO GATESHEAD IN TARGETED ATTACK

- By ROB KENNEDY

A gang kidnapped a terrified taxi driver from the streets of Newcastle at gunpoint after lying in wait for him and his passenger. As the victim drove out of a car park in Jesmond Vale, his Suzuki was blocked in and stopped by a red Range Rover in a targeted attack.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim had picked up the second man on August 24 last year. They were then boxed in and snatched a couple of hours later and taken to Gateshead at gunpoint in the taxi.

Now Andrew Wright, Simon Walton and Joseph Henderson have been jailed for their part in the offence, while Scott Haug will be sentenced at a later date. Emma Dowling, prosecuting, said: “The men in the Range Rover were clearly expecting the men to be there. They had travelled from Chopwell to Jesmond to threaten and intimidate them.

“Mr Wright was in the driver's seat with a realistic firearm. The complainants were taken against their will to Gateshead.”

When they got there, Wright and Walton removed the second man from the car and took him into a flat. Haug, who was still in the car with the victim, was then startled when a police car drove past and he ran off, allowing the victim to also flee on foot.

Miss Dowling said: “It was not entirely a coincidence that the police were there. The Range Rover had flagged on the police system, but they were unaware of the kidnap.”

Meanwhile Wright and Walton left the flat with the second man and got back in the Suzuki and went back to Chopwell. The car was later found burned out near Winlaton.