Ten arrested and seven charged over alleged kidnap plot in South Tyneside

Ten people have been arrested by Northumbria Police in a series of targeted strikes as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged kidnapping in South Tyneside.

On Monday, October 23, Northumbria Police’s Crime Department executed a number of dawn raids at multiple addresses across South Shields.

It followed a report that a number of people had been held against their will at an address in the borough, and seriously assaulted on September 20.

As a result of the raids, eight men and two women, all aged between 24 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, blackmail and assault.

Following the arrests, six men and one woman have been charged with a number of offences relating to the alleged incident and are due to appear at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, October 25.

One man, aged 30, still remains in police custody, while another man, aged 29, and a 25-year-old woman have been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Detective Inspector Mark Atherton, the officer leading the investigation, has moved to reassure members of the public that Northubmria Police believe there is no wider risk to them.

He 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.

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“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 officers by calling 101 or using the ‘Tell us Something’ page on the Northumbria Police website quoting log NP-20230921-0543.

Alternatively, you can contact independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.