Seven South Shields torture gang members jailed for a total of 49 years

Top, l-r: Craig Seales, Daniel Lake, Kasim Thompson; Centre, l-r: Iain Sutherland, Grant Maclean, Jonathon Ferguson; Bottom, l-r: Samantha Olsen, Jonathon Mason, Liam Price
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Seven crime gang members have been jailed for a total of 49 years for torturing three terrified men in a garage which looked like "something out of a movie".

Victims were lured to a lock-up in South Shields and held prisoner before being tortured amid demands for cash to secure their release. The violence included the use of a blow torch and substances were poured on them and they were also hit with a shovel and punched and kicked.

Two members of the gang were locked up previously and now five more have been sentenced for their part in offences which happened on September 18 last year. Newcastle Crown Court heard cash was demanded from victims and their families following a dispute over alleged drug debts.

READ MORE:Northumberland professor left with bleeding on the brain by driver who had taken cocaine before horror crash

READ MORE:Jury retire to consider verdicts with two Newcastle men on trial for £18K drugs and firearm conspiracy

One of the victims, targeted simply because his brother allegedly owed money, said: “I will never forget what I walked into.

“They were big guys, much bigger than me and looked dodgy. The garage was horrible. It was dirty and stunk.

“I was thinking it’s the kind of place people get tortured in, like something in a movie. I could see a shovel and bunsen burners.

“I could see my little brother was already hurt and crying. I knew I was going to get hurt too. I felt helpless seeing him look like this. I won’t forget the look of fear on his face.

“I thought this was it, we were going to die.” He said his brother was saying a Muslim prayer which is said before death and he was saying it in his head.

He added: “I thought we were at the end of life. I was physically shaking in fear. I find it difficult to even think back to this time in the garage.”

He said he was allowed to leave for a time to try to find money but he knew there was none he could get and when he got back to the garage he thought they would be killed. However they were given two days to find £20,000 and allowed to leave. He said: “I feel lucky to be alive.”

Keep up to date with all the latest court news from the North East with our free newsletter

The statement was read out at the sentencing hearing of Iain Sutherland, Liam Price, Samantha Olsen, Jonathon Mason and Grant Maclean. The court heard there was CCTV audio of screams coming from the garage.

After the men had been released from their ordeals, CCTV shows there was a “jovial atmosphere and banter” between the gang members.

Judge Amanda Rippon said it was not possible to say exactly who caused specific injuries to the victims. She said Daniel Lake was behind what happened and it was his debt and he made arrangements and took part in what happened. Seales provided the garage and Olsen was the driver who helped collect victims and take them to the garage.

Sutherland, 33, of Marigold Walk, South Shields, admitted two counts of false imprisonment and blackmail and was jailed for nine-and-half years. Maclean, 25, of Bluebell Way, admitted two counts of false imprisonment and blackmail and got nine years and three months.

The judge said Olsen’s role was different and she did not participate in any violence and was not in the garage for more than a minute. But she said she played an important role as driver, including taking the victims to the garage and taking one of them to look for money.

Olsen, 36, of Sheridan Road, South Shields, who admitted two counts of false imprisonment and blackmail, was also being sentenced for money laundering and cheating the revenue offences. She was jailed for a total of eight-and-a-half years.

Mason, 35, of Pine Avenue and Price, 30, of Oak Avenue, both South Shields, were cleared of blackmail and a jury failed to reach a verdict on false imprisonment charges. They pleaded guilty to affray. They were each jailed for 15 months. They are time-served having been on remand.

Kasim Thompson, 35, of Cedar Grove, South Shields, who pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment and one count of blackmail, was previously jailed for nine years.

Craig Seales, 37, of Rembrandt Avenue, South Shields, was previously jailed for 10 years and four months.

Daniel Lake, 33, of Landseer Gardens and Jonathon Ferguson, 31, of Quary Lane, who pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment and blackmail, will be sentenced at a later date. Ferguson also admitted unrelated charges of common assault and criminal damage.