Woman jailed after helping convicted murderer go on the run during manhunt

Samantha Reader, 27, stayed in hotels with Joey Matthews in a bid to hide him from detectives. At one point, she also hung up on police who called her asking where Matthews was.

Her boyfriend, alongside Brandon Ali, was convicted of the murder of Carl Eland after a car was driven directly at him as he cycled along the pavement on Homerton Road in Pallister Park, Middlesbrough.

The pair stayed at the Days Inn hotel in Durham and The Bluebell Hotel and The Park Hotel in Redcar between 1 October 2021 and 9 October 2021 as police searched for Matthews.

After hanging up on police, she sent a message to Matthews’ mother sharing the number of the detective and warned her to be ‘careful’, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Reader sent messages enquiring about caravan rentals, and also searched for caravan parks, log cabins and holiday lodges while with Matthews.

Other internet searches over the course of five days included ‘how long do murderers serve in prison?’, ‘maximum jail sentence UK’ and ‘ex-girlfriend hid fugitive brute in her loft’.

The pair’s time on the run ended when they were stopped by police in a taxi on Ladgate Lane in Middlesbrough.

On Monday (Mar 3) Reader was sentenced to two years and two months behind bars for assisting an offender, an office she had pleaded guilty to at a previous hearing.

Detective Inspector Matt Hollingsworth, from Cleveland Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET), said: “This sentencing should send a stark warning to people who think that they can assist or harbour individuals who are wanted by police.

“You will be caught, and you could also be spending a period behind bars.

“Reader was providing a form of protection to a man who we were seeking on suspicion of murder and went to numerous attempts to prevent him from being detected.

“It is a criminal offence and one that we will proactively take action against to ensure that they are rightly punished through the justice system.”