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Rob Kennedy

Byker armed mob gang member who left man terrified in his home jailed

A gang member who played a leading role as an armed mob threatened a man with weapons in a terrifying ordeal has been jailed.

Moaaz Siraj and four others turned up outside a flat in Byker, Newcastle, wearing masks, hoods and carrying weapons including a knife and a metal bat.

They threatened a man inside a flat and repeatedly told him to come out, with one shouting "come outside, I'm going to kill you."

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We reported last October how four men had been jailed for their role in the offence at Shipley Rise, on February 1 last year.

Now Siraj has joined them behind bars after admitting affray, possessing an offensive weapon and unrelated offences, including setting fire to a taxi.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim was at home making dinner with his friend when the gang turned up.

Sentencing Siraj, Judge Robert Spragg said: "When he looked out, he could see outside his flat a gang of you, most of you armed and wearing hoods and masks, hitting and breaking the window, trying to force entry."

The judge said the offence was motivated by Sharif Kalimba wanting to fight the victim but said Siraj was playing a leading role.

He said: "You were second through the door, holding a knife above your head.

"It was targeting of an individual by a group and many of you had weapons, which were used to threaten violence.

"You were part of a gang and had a leading role."

Siraj, 21, of Coast Road, Heaton, Newcastle, who has 19 previous convictions, was also being sentenced for a series of other offences.

He was convicted of arson after setting fire to a taxi and burning it out on May 19 2019 after a dispute with the owner.

He pleaded guilty to having a bladed article in June 2019 after being found with a 12 inch hunting knife.

Siraj also admitted dangerous driving on April 23 after doing more than 110mph on the A1 during a police chase in which officers had to use a stinger device and force him into a ditch.

Siraj was jailed for a total of four years and two months.

In the hearing last year three men were sentenced for affray and possessing an offensive weapon. Sharif Kalimba, 24, of no fixed abode, was jailed for two years and three months in prison, Tyler Duncan, 25, of no fixed address, got two years and Mohammed Hussain, 19, of Kirkdale Green, Newcastle, received a 16-month sentence.

These men received a jail sentence at Newcastle Crown Court. Pictured clockwise, from top left, Tyler Duncan, Mohammed Hussain, Ibrahim Bouchelouche and Sharif Kalimba (Northumbria Police)

Ibrahim Bouchelouche, 23, of Stannington Grove, Newcastle, was given an 18-month prison sentence for affray. He was not convicted of having an offensive weapon.

Prosecutor Barry Robson said a resident of Shipley Rise was at home with a friend and was making dinner on the evening of the disturbance. But then he saw his friend "panicking".

When they looked outside, there was a gang of people, most of them armed and wearing hoods or masks.

The offenders arrived outside a flat in the building and were trying to get one of the men to come out.

Duncan was carrying a metallic bat, it was said.

He was heard shouting: "Come outside, I'm going to kill you. If you are a man, you would come outside."

However, the police were called and the gang ran off.

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