Geordie career criminal’s flee from law ends with hefty jail sentence

A prolific criminal who caused misery across the North East has been put behind bars.

Prolific William Joab appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday, April 22, where he was jailed for almost four years for a string of offences, including threats to kill.

The 34-year-old had also been wanted in connection with a burglary on Bewick Road, Gateshead in which a bike worth £300 was stolen along with two mobile phones.

Fugitive Joab sold the bike but thankfully it was later recovered when officers from the Force’s Central Burglary Team were able to follow the specialist tracking device it had been fitted with.

Enquiries soon revealed Joab as a prime suspect with officers recognising him from CCTV and attempts to locate him were ramped up.

It wasn’t long before he was found by officers from Gateshead’s Neighbourhood Policing Team at an address in Teams, Gateshead and brought into custody and later charged.

Joab, of no fixed abode, previously admitted theft of a pedal bike, burglary and threats to kill, and was jailed for three years and nine months.

He was also issued with a five year restraining order against the woman he threatened to kill, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £190.

Speaking after the sentencing, Neighbourhood Inspector Alan Davison said: “Joab is a prolific criminal whose actions have blighted his community in recent years, and we welcome the sentence handed down.

“People who continue to burgle and steal from other people and behave in a threatening and intimidating manner have no place in our neighbourhoods and it is only right that they face the consequences of their actions.

“As a Force, we do all we can to tackle this type of criminality, and we would ask the public to keep working with us and reporting suspicious behaviour and thefts to us.”