Three men have been charged in connection with an alleged aggravated burglary that left two pensioners with serious injuries.
At around 7.30pm on Sunday, January 22, police received a report of a disturbance at an address on Hindsons Crescent South, on the A183 Chester Road in Shiney Row.
It was alleged that three masked males arrived in a silver Vauxhall Mokka and entered the property, before making threats and assaulting the occupants – a 63-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman.
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It is then reported that they have taken cash and jewellery.
According to police, the group have then got back into the Mokka parked outside of the address and driven away from the area.
The male occupant suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries to his head, face and back, and the female occupant suffered a serious, non-life-threatening arm injury. Both occupants were left shaken by the incident.
A full investigation has been launched and officers are now asking anyone with information to come forward.
As part of ongoing enquiries, officers arrested three men – aged 20, 23, 32 – who have since been charged with joint aggravated burglary.
They appeared before magistrates in South Tyneside on January 25 and were remanded into custody ahead of their next appearance.
Detective Inspector Neal Craig, of Northumbria Police, said: “This is a serious incident, and we are determined to establish the full facts and bring anyone found to be involved to justice.
“Firstly, I would like to commend the victims, and their family, who have shown great bravery ever since the report was made.
“This type of criminality will not be tolerated in our communities, and I am asking the public to come forward and assist our investigation.
“A number of enquiries have been carried out however we are keen to hear from anyone with information, in particular anyone who has CCTV or dashcam, and may have captured footage of the silver Vauxhall Mokka or of the suspects involved before or after the alleged incident.
“If you saw anything suspicious in the area, please let us know as soon as possible. Your information could prove crucial to our enquiries.”
Anyone with information, or footage, is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of Northumbria Police's website or by calling 101, quoting crime number 008853X/23.
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