Gang jailed after 'horrendous violent' attacks and stabbing left victims seriously injured
Four men have been jailed after a series of violent attacks and burglaries in Hartlepool left victims with serious injuries.
Alan Metcalfe, 27, John Robbins, 40, Jake Honour, 21, and David Halcrow, 47, were sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday (Apr 23) for offences including a stabbing and a separate serious assault.
On October 21, 2024, Robbins, of Tiverton Grove, and Halcrow, of Murray Street, attacked a man in his 60s at an address on Glastonbury Walk.
The court heard how the pair punched and kicked him inside the property before throwing a blanket over his head and dragging him into the living room, where he was stabbed in the thigh.
Robbins then instructed Halcrow to “finish him” before the victim was stabbed a second time.
Emergency services found the man seriously injured in a pool of blood.
He was taken to James Cook University Hospital after losing around one and a half litres of blood from an 8cm-deep wound.
He has since been left unable to work following the attack.
Police have said he has been “left a shadow of his former self”.
Robbins and Halcrow were found guilty of wounding with intent following a trial in February.
Robbins was also involved in a separate incident on April 16 last year, alongside Metcalfe, of South Bank, and Honour, of Tiverton Grove.
The group had been drinking in a bar with their victim before attacking him outside, punching and kicking him as part of a robbery to obtain money for drugs.
The assault was filmed on a mobile phone, a court heard.
The victim suffered multiple facial fractures and required surgery, including the fitting of plates and screws. He has been left unable to leave his home since the attack.
Metcalfe later threatened to petrol bomb the home of the victim’s aunt when she challenged him about the incident.
In addition to the violent offences, Metcalfe was also sentenced for a burglary on Cameron Road in May last year, the court was told.
Robbins’ sentence included a separate burglary in March, in which two guitars worth around £2,000 were stolen.
Honour also admitted stealing alcohol from the staff area of a shop on October 21 last year.
Robbins was sentenced to nine years in prison, with an additional three years on extended licence.
Metcalfe was jailed for five years, while Halcrow and Honour were each sentenced to four years.
Detective Constable Robyn Smith, who investigated the stabbing, said: “All four of these men have been involved in horrendous violent assaults, and are a danger to the town.
“The victims of these attacks will live with the horrors of this abhorrent violence for years to come.
“Thankfully these men will now be behind bars for some time, which I hope will being some kind of peace to their victims.”