An innocent man was brutally murdered when a drugs gang sought retribution over a stolen electric bike.
The gang of armed men stormed into Jordan Hogg’s flat searching for a drug addict they blamed for stealing the young dealer’s bike.
Gang leader Sidney Bashford rallied his group of thugs to track down the man and deliver their own brand of justice.
However, Newcastle Crown Court heard how they took out their brutal vengeance on an entirely innocent victim and left him to die after inflicting a fatal machete wound to his neck.
The 29-year-old drug dealer was joined in the devastating violence by his trusted friend Oliver Connelly and Ryan Moore, while Michael Charville waited outside in his van to act as a getaway driver.
And 17-year-old Kaiden McIver, who can be named for the first time, stood outside the flat on Fonteyn Court in Hemlington, Middlesbrough, acting as look-out for his boss.
The judge heard how the teenager was being exploited by the drugs gang to sell drugs within his community.
The court heard how Bashford’s team of dealers on the Hemlington estate were given his £3,500 electric bike to use to deliver cocaine and crack cocaine to users.
Sentencing the drugs gang, Mr Justice Goss branded their violent retribution ‘cowardly’ as he imposed life sentences for all adult defendants and told the teenager he would be held at His Majesty’s pleasure.
He said: “The jury convicted you, Sidney Bashford, of possessing a knife and there is no doubt that you used it to inflict the fatal wound.
“The rest of you were party to the attack, assisting and encouraging others, intending at least serious harm should be caused.”
A forensic analysis of the property found the front door had been struck with a blade and the attack had occurred just inside Jordan’s flat in February last year.
Following an extensive manhunt, the 17-year-old was arrested at his home in Middlesbrough on March 1. Moore was arrested on March 17.
Bashford had fled the country via Ireland. However, he was detained in France and extradited back to the UK on March 27 where he was arrested at Heathrow Airport.
The following day, both Connelly and Charville were arrested together at a property on Oak Hill in Middlesbrough.
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Bashford, of Darwen Court in Hemlington, was found guilty of murder and possession of an offensive weapon and jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years.
Connelly, of Elmhurst Gardens in Middlesbrough, was convicted of the same offences and jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years.
Charville, 44, of Palmer Street, Middlesbrough, was found guilty of murder and told he will serve a minimum of 20 years of his life sentence.
Moore, 23, of Grange Road, Middlesbrough, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 22 years of his life sentence.
McIver, of Beckenham Gardens, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to detention at His Majesty's pleasure with a minimum term of 16 years.
John Elvidge KC, representing the teenager, said his client had been exploited by the drugs gang.
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