TWO thugs who travelled from London and violently assaulted 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 vicious attacks 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 Newcastle in September of that year.

He burst into the address on Ladykirk Road and carried out a sustained and violent attack on his 49-year-old victim using weapons including a knife and hammer.

The gang then fled the address but returned the next month and carried out another violent attack on the same male victim, a former associate of Aleshe.

Thankfully the victim did not sustain any life-threatening injuries during the attacks but he was left living in fear.

The court heard how later that same month Aleshe returned to Tyneside and visited an address on Old Durham Road in Gateshead.

He again carried out a violent attack, this time on a 38-year-old woman who suffered a number of slash wounds caused by a knife.

Detectives on Northumbria Police’s Operation Sentinel teams carried out CCTV, forensic and house-to-house enquiries to identify those involved.

Aleshe, of no fixed address, was identified as being involved in each of the raids while Bombo was identified as being involved in the final attack in Gateshead.

The former admitted a string of violent offences and on Wednesday he was jailed for seven years at Newcastle Crown Court.

Bombo, of Alexandra Road, London, was jailed for two years at the same court after admitting an affray in relation to the final assault.

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 possibe without the support of the victims in this case and I want to praise the incredible bravery they have shown.”

Aleshe 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.

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.