Last year at around 7.30pm on Friday, July 1, police received a report that a man had fallen from a moving white Vito Mercedes van on the Coast Road in Wallsend.
Emergency services were swiftly deployed to the scene and found a seriously injured man who was bound at the wrists with cable ties, lying in the middle of the road.
The man – then aged 34 – was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and an investigation was immediately launched by officers to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
Armed with only a description of the van that had already left the scene, detectives started to trawl nearby CCTV camera footage, and carried out extensive house-to-house enquiries in the area.
Meanwhile, a second male victim – aged 21 at the time – came forward to police, disclosing that he had also been in the van before being moved and released from a different vehicle in the Blyth area, and was concerned about his injured friend.
Enquiries soon revealed an horrific kidnap plot which saw Harri Pearce, Mason Schubeler, Reece Speirs and Ricky Fidler, force entry to an address in East Howden, cable tie their victims and bundle them into the white Vito Mercedes van.
The thugs drove their victims around North Tyneside for more than an hour, physically threatening them with weapons and violence before one of the victims escaped, and the other was released.
Over the coming days and weeks, detectives gathered crucial evidence including proof that two of the kidnappers had purchased the cable ties and a padlock used at Wallsend store less than 20 minutes before the attack was carried out.
After finding the Mercedes burnt out in North Shields, police also connected two other vehicles – as silver Ford Transit van and a grey Vauxhall Astra – to the investigation.
In an effort to arrest Fidler, officers were also forced to abandon a pursuit on the Coast Road during the morning of Saturday, July 2, when he drove the Ford transit van on the wrong side of the carriageway at speed to evade capture.
And it wasn’t long before they had arrested and charged the four men in connection with the kidnap – as well as their associate Laura Watson, who was called in to help release the second victim and clean up the crime scene.
The group previously pleaded guilty to a string of offences in February and appeared before Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday, April 6th, where they were sentenced to a total of 43 years and 10 months in prison.
– Harri Pearce, 22, of Westmorland Road, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnap, aggravated burglary, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and assault, and was jailed for 12 years and eight months. He was also banned from driving for 11 years and nine months, and must take an extended re-test if he wants his licence back.
– Mason Schubeler, 21, of Marondale Avenue, Walker, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnap, aggravated burglary and two counts of assault, as well as being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, and was jailed for 11 years and nine months to serve in a young offender’s institution.
– Reece Speirs, 23, of Norham Road, North Shields, pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnap, and assault, and was jailed for seven years and four months.
– Ricky Fidler, 21, of Victoria Court, West Moor, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnap, aggravated burglary, dangerous driving, and two counts of assault, and was jailed for 10 years. He was also banned from driving for nine years and six months, and must take an extended re-test if he wants his licence back.
– Laura Watson, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnap, and was jailed for two years and one month.
