Jackpot winner’s cousin shot and left for dead by masked gang wanting share of cash
A man was kidnapped and shot in the leg by a gang demanding a ransom from his relative who won a £50,000 jackpot.
Jacob Clough-Massey was shot in the leg with a shotgun and abandoned on a secluded country lane after he was held against his will for hours by three masked men demanding £5,000 from his cousin who had just won a prize in a competition.
The Liverpool Echo reported the trio of thugs, Carl MacDowall, Carlton Mullen and Kieran Kristensen, committed “sustained violence” against Jacob after they kidnapped him from his Merseyside flat in December 2020 with his own car, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones of Liverpool Crown Court said during sentencing on January 26.
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The judge said Jacob was shot in the leg two-and-a-half hours after being taken by the group, all aged 23, and was left to die on Ramsbrook Lane on the outskirts of Hale, two miles from his flat.
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
This was following several failed extortion attempts and counter threats against Carlton Mullen’s girlfriend.
Seriously injured and shoeless Jacob was luckily able to seek help from a passing motorist, who called 999 for him.
Jacob, who now walks with a cane having suffered permanent nerve damage, described hearing a “big bang” and feeling “a sensation in his leg” which then went numb.
He says he suffers from flashbacks of the incident to this day.
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Judge Trevor-Jones was forced to berate the goons, who all called into the hearing via video link from HMP Liverpool, for “grinning and laughing” throughout the hearing.
The thugs were found guilty of kidnapping, wounding with intent and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
MacDowell of Blakeacre Road in Halewood and Mullen of no fixed address but formerly of Chesterton Street in Garston, who both previously admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, were each given 20 years plus three years on licence.
Meanwhile, Kristensen of no fixed address but previously of Coral Avenue in Huyton, was given 16 years with an additional three years on licence.
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“None of you have shown any element of remorse for your actions and you have each maintained your innocence to the end,” the judge concluded.
MacDowell’s and Mullen’s additional time behind bars was given as they were caught in a police raid at a house in Lancaster, which they were using to deal drugs from.
Around £1,000 of crack cocaine was discovered at the address, which the pair fled from as police came in.
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