A man was kidnapped and shot by a gang who demanded a ransom after his relative scooped a £50,000 jackpot.
The victim was blasted in the leg with a shotgun and abandoned on a dark and secluded country lane, having been held against his will for hours by masked men Carl MacDowall, Carlton Mullen and Kieran Kristensen. The thugs laughed and joked as they were handed lengthy prison terms at Liverpool Crown Court this afternoon, Thursday.
A trial previously heard that Jacob Clough-Massey was taken at gunpoint from his flat on Lakenheath Road in Halewood at around 5pm on December 15 2020. Daniel Travers, prosecuting, described how the dad was repeatedly punched in the face at his front door before a shotgun was jabbed into his chest.
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He was then dragged into his own car by the three assailants, who were all wearing balaclavas, and driven around in the Ford Fiesta for roughly an hour-and-a-half while the attack continued - leaving him "dazed" and with blood pouring from his nose. The victim was then taken to Ramsbrook Lane, on the outskirts of Hale Village, where Kristensen - of no fixed address, but previously of Coral Avenue in Huyton - left his co-defendants as he was subject to an electronically-monitored 7pm curfew.
The beating continued on the "quiet country lane" - with Mr Clough-Massey being punched, kicked and stamped on "all over his body". During this ordeal, the attackers - all aged 23 - made repeated attempts via phone calls to force his cousin James Clough to pay up a £5,000 ransom.
Only a month earlier, he had won £50,000 in a competition on Facebook - a jackpot which "everybody knew" about. Having failed to extort the cash, and after counter threats were made against Mullen's girlfriend, the hostage was shot in the leg at around 7.30pm and abandoned at the scene near to Halewood Waste Transfer Station.
Mr Clough-Massey later described hearing a "big bang" and "feeling a sensation in his leg", which then went numb. Despite the gunshot wound to his upper thigh, the seriously injured and shoeless man was able to crawl towards the road and seek help from a passing motorist - who called 999.
He now walks with the aid of stick, having been left with permanent nerve damage. Mr Clough-Massey continues to suffer from flashbacks to the terrifying incident.
MacDowall, of Blakeacre Road in Halewood, and Mullen, of no fixed address but formerly of Chesterton Street in Garston, also fell to be sentenced for drug trafficking offences today. It came after police raided a house on Shakespeare Road in Lancaster which was being "cuckooed" by the pair on May 16 2020.
They had fled out of the window while the occupant opened the front door to officers. Around £1,000 of crack cocaine was then discovered inside the address.
Flare texts advertising drugs for sale were discovered on MacDowall's phone and boasted of "heavy flake" he had available to users. Mullen - who has three previous convictions for 12 offences - was also found to be part of the "Scouse Roy" county line, which supplied illicit substances in Kendal and Cumbria.
Michael O'Brien, appearing on his behalf, said: "There is time for this defendant to be rehabilitated in the prison system so that, when he is to be released, he does not pose a significant risk of serious harm to the public. His family are devastated by his current predicament and the sentence he is about to receive."
MacDowall, father to a young daughter, has a total of three convictions for four offences on his record. Karl Volz, defending, told the court: "He is not heavily convicted.
"References speak of another side to Carl MacDowall - of his positive attributes, of what he has done which is good, praiseworthy and worthwhile. He became a father and more of a family man."
Kristensen has six convictions for 14 offences and is currently serving a four-and-a-half year sentence for drug supply matters. His counsel Andrew Jebb said in mitigation: "There is nothing on his record for violence or firearms offences.
"There was nothing in his track record to predict that he would offend in this way. It is unlikely, given the age he will be on his release, that he would reoffend in this way again."
All three appeared via video link to HMP Liverpool, and at one stage were told off by the judge for "grinning and laughing" throughout the hearing. They were found guilty of kidnapping, wounding with intent and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence by a jury last week.
MacDowall and Mullen previously admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply. Both were handed 20 years plus an extended three-year licence period.
Kristensen was jailed for 16 years and given an additional three years on licence. This will be served consecutively to his current term.
Sentencing, Judge Trevor Jones said: "You hatched a plan to kidnap Jacob Clough-Massey and demand a ransom of some £5,000 for his return. You took a shotgun with you and it was loaded.
"You attacked him. You struck him and forced him into his own car. You continued to assault him. From beginning to end, he was held at gunpoint. There was sustained violence. In the event, you failed to persuade the family to pay up.
"Your patience ran out. You shot him in the thigh before leaving him there at the entrance to the water treatment works, a secluded location, in darkness.
"Whatever the motivation to shoot him, you had given up attempting to secure any ransom. Unless shooting him was entirely gratuitous, it must have been intended to deter any reporting of the offences.
"You all agreed Jacob Clough-Massey should be shot if necessary. Initially, he was then abandoned to his fate.
"Fortunately, still in that condition, he crawled along the road and was spotted by a passing motorist. None of you have shown any element of remorse for your actions and you have each maintained your innocence to the end."
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