Ten arrested and seven charged over alleged South Tyneside kidnap plot
Officers have arrested 10 people in a series of targeted strikes as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged kidnapping in South Tyneside.
On Monday (October 23) officers from Northumbria Police’s Crime Department led a string of dawn raids at multiple addresses across South Shields with support from the Force’s Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT).
The activity followed a report that a number of people had had been held against their will at an address in South Tyneside, and seriously assaulted on September 20.
As part of the investigation launched by Northumbria Police’s Major Investigation Team (MIT), a total of eight men and two women, aged between 24 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, blackmail and assault.
Of those 10, six men and one woman have since been charged with a slew of offences and are due to appear at South Tyneside Magistrates Court today (October 25). One man, aged 30, remains in police custody at this time, while another man, aged 29, and a 25-year-old woman have been released on bail.
Officers will remain in the area over the coming days, continuing their enquiries, and anyone with concerns or information should make themselves known.
Leading the investigation, Detective Inspector Mark Atherton from MIT said: “Following a concerning report made to us about a number of people being held against their will at an address in the area, an investigation was launched with a number of specialist detectives tasked with establishing exactly what happened.
“A number of people sustained serious, but non-life threatening injuries and have now been safeguarded.
“We have since identified a number of people we believe to have been involved and yesterday, carried out targeted action to arrest those people and bring them into custody. Seven people have since been charged with a number of offences and are due to face the courts today.
“Our investigation remains ongoing and is still at an early stage but we do believe there is no risk to the wider public at this time.
“Officers will remain in the area and anyone who thinks they might be able to help or have information they want to share, should get in touch.
“Violence and criminality of this nature will not be tolerated and as part of Operation Sentinel, our dedicated activity to tackle serious and organised crime, we will do all we can to bring offenders to justice.”
If you have information that may assist the investigation, please contact Northumbria Police by calling 101 or using the ‘Tell us Something’ page on our website quoting log NP-20230921-0543.
Alternatively, you can contact independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.