Masked gang who smashed homes and cars with baseball bats and machetes jailed for more than 15 years

Three members of a masked gang who went on the rampage with baseball bats and machetes, wrecking homes and cars, have been jailed by a judge in Preston.

The city’s Crown Court heard the attacks in Burnley were committed over three days in a family dispute between brothers.

The trio who were caught – Josh Watson, Stinton Glover and Arry Todd – were sent to prison for a total of more than 15 years to add to sentences they are already serving for other offences.

One of the five homes they targeted housed a 71-year-old man who is now said to be unable to sleep for fear of another attack on his property.

Watson, 33, of Parkinson Street, Burnley was jailed for five years and eight months for his part in the orgy of violence. He was also charged with dangerous driving after being caught at the wheel of a stolen car which was driven the wrong way up the M65 in a bid to escape police.

Glover, also 33, of no fixed address but formerly of Hargreaves Street, Burnley, was sent down for four-and-a-half years.

And Todd, 21, from Ribblesdale Street, Burnley, was given a three-year-four-month sentence. He left the dock smiling and waving to relatives in the public gallery.

The court was told all three were currently in prison after being recalled for committing the latest offences while on licence for previous convictions.

Prior to this week’s sentences Watson was not due to be released until 2030, Glover in June 2029 and Todd in September this year.

Recorder Michelle Brown said the offences had occurred “in revenge or retaliation by a gang attacking multiple properties with multiple victims”.

Some of the raids had been made on properties connected to Glover’s brother. Threats had been made against him to “break his legs”.

All three men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to commit burglary.

The court was told that a gang of nine or 10 men, all wearing dark clothing and balaclavas to protect their identities, went on a three-day wrecking spree attacking houses and parked cars.

In the first raid they got into a property and systematically wrecked the place with baseball bats before going outside and attacking two parked cars. The mayhem was filmed by one of the men and posted on social media. It was shown in court with around a dozen relatives and friends watching from the public benches.

After that they targeted a house in Manchester Road, Hapton where the 71-year-old man was home alone. He heard loud banging on his front door and saw both Glover and Watson outside along with eight others armed with baseball bats and machetes.

He heard smashing glass and car alarms going off before all the men ran away, jumping into three cars and driving off. The total damage they caused was estimated at £15,000. Later Watson posted a video of the attack on Instagram with the caption: “Another house trashed.”

Later that same night another house was attacked in Padiham. The occupant heard screaming and shouting and opened the door to find around nine men wearing balaclavas smashing cars down the street. He later checked his Kia Sportage and found every window had been smashed and there were several marks on the bodywork.

A Vauxhall Corsa had also been damaged with all its windows, apart from one, shattered and deep “axe” marks on the panels. In total four vehicles had been attacked in that street.

In another CCTV clip shown in court the men could be seen attacking the cars with bats and machetes. A pregnant woman – said to be the ex-partner of Glover’s brother - was in one of the houses with her three children at the time.

In the early hours of the next day another member of the Gorton family moved three vehicles from in front of his house to avoid an attack.

Yet another relative was at home in Burnley when he heard noises outside and discovered four masked men smashing the windows of his back door. Five other men were seen outside the front, four with baseball bats and a fifth with a pickaxe handle with a metal attachment. He recognised Glowver’s voice and one of the gang attempted to throw a gas canister through an upstairs window.

Police were called and residents in the street reported they had been threatened to “mind your own business or your house will be next”.

One of the men shouted: “We’ll be back to finish the job. That’s what you get for grassing.”

Another address in Taylor Street, Burnley, which was linked to a member of the Gorton family, was damaged.

The court heard a stolen grey BMW car was spotted by police driving around the area and officers tried to intercept it. But it drove away at speed with the police in pursuit. It was said to have been driven at “very high speeds and performing very dangerous manoeuvres.

A police helicopter was scrambled and at one point the car, with Watson at the wheel, drove along the M65 motorway in the wrong direction between junctions nine and eight (Rosegrove to Hapton) facing oncoming traffic. It was abandoned on the A56 Accrington Bypass.

Police chased Watson and Glover into a nearby field and, with Tasers at the ready, arrested them. The car was searched and officers found wooden baseball bats inside.

At the time Watson had been on licence after being released midway through an eight-year sentence for drugs offences and was immediately recalled to prison.

Glover was also on licence and he too was returned to jail to serve the remainder of his term for drugs offences.

Similarly Todd was recalled to prison to finish the remainder of his 30-month sentence for driving offences.

In a victim impact statement read in court the 71-year-old whose house was targeted said the attack had affected him “in more ways than I would have imagined.” He said he had become paranoid and struggled to relax in his own home.

“When I go out I question whether people are following me,” he said. “I am always looking over my shoulder.”

He added that his house had been left boarded up for some time after the attack. “I feel I have been judged because I became a victim of this attack. I am being treated as a criminal.”

Barrister Kristian Cavanagh, for Glover – said in court to be “probably the instigator” - said his client recognised he was facing a lengthy prison sentence. But he asked the judge to make it as short as possible because he was finding life in Preston Prison “very difficult”. He was currently in a segregation unit due to “ongoing issues”.

Matthew Harding, for Watson, said the offensive weapon (baseball bat) had not been used to threaten anyone. And he said after this latest court appearance his client “might be realising it’s about time this cycle of offending is broken”.

And Tom Lord, representing Todd, said his client was only 22 and still immature. He had never finished school not taken GCSE exams due to domestic issues but had aspirations for the future.

Recorder Michelle Brown told the three men that with six or seven other masked men they had targeted property linked to the Gorton family and the attacks had been organised and carried out as an armed gang.

Threats had been made against one member of the family to break his legs. And the attacks had been made in residential streets where families lived.

She said a BMW had been stolen and chased at high speed by police “driving on the motorway against the flow of traffic causing a risk of collision to other road users”.

Dealing with Watson first she jailed him for a total of five years and eight months which included six months for possession of an offensive weapon, six months for handling stolen goods - £1,800 in cash believed to be from a drugs deal – and 10 months for dangerous driving. He was disqualified for more than four years and told he will have to pass an extended driving test before being allowed back behind the wheel in future.

She sent Glover to jail for four-and-a-half years, with six months of that for possessing an offensive weapon.

And in Todd’s case she sentenced him to three years and four months for conspiracy to commit burglary and two years and four months for conspiracy to commit damage – both sentences to run concurrently.