Two thugs who violently attacked three people in their own homes using knives and metal bars have been jailed.
Taffarell Aleshe, 24, and Salem Bombo, 27, have been put behind bars for their parts in the brutal assaults in Tyneside in 2018.
Newcastle Crown Court was told how the men were part of a gang of suspected organised criminals who had travelled to the North East from London.
Aleshe, who was also known as 'Trevor', was identified as being one group who first targeted a victim in Benwell, Newcastle, in September of that year.
He burst into the address on Ladykirk Road and carried out a sustained and violent attack on a 49-year-old man using weapons including a knife and hammer.
The gang then fled the scene but returned the next month and carried out a similar savage assault on the same victim, a former associate of Aleshe.
He did not sustain any life-threatening injuries during the attacks but was left fearing for his life.
The court heard how later that month Aleshe returned to Tyneside and visited an address on Old Durham Road in Gateshead.
A 38-year-old woman was his next victim, suffering a number of slash wounds caused by a knife.
Detectives on Northumbria Police’s Operation Sentinel teams launched an investigation and carried out CCTV, forensic and house-to-house inquiries.
Aleshe, of no fixed address, was identified as being involved in each of the raids while Bombo was involved in the Gateshead attack.
The former admitted two counts of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of perverting the course of justice.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday.
Bombo, of Alexandra Road, London, was also jailed for two years after admitting an affray.
Detective Sergeant Chris Johnson, of Northumbria Police, said: "These were violent and sustained attacks against terrified victims in their own homes.
"This gang have travelled across the country, armed themselves with weapons and used violence to leave their associates living in fear of their lives.
"Now two of those involved have been brought to justice thanks to the hard work of detectives working in the Operation Sentinel team.
"They have worked tirelessly to present evidence to the court and will continue to work hard to identify those believed to be involved in organised crime.
"But the results today would not have been possible without the support of the victims in this case and I want to praise the incredible bravery they have shown.”
Operation Sentinel is a joined up initiative between Northumbria, Durham, Cleveland and the North East Regional Special Operations Unit (NERSOU). It aims to disrupt serious and organised crime on a regional level.
Anyone who wants to report information about organised crime can do so online at the Northumbria Police website, by calling 101 or anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
