CCTV shows moment man is 'threatened at gunpoint' on his doorstep in staged incident as part of revenge plot

The telltale sound of laughter in the background of the seemingly shocking footage unravelled a web of lies which has resulted in two people being jailed after it was discovered the video had been set up following a bitter divorce dispute.

Shortly before 10.30pm on July 31, 2020, Inderjeet Gosal made a panicked 999 call to police saying he had been threatened by two masked men at his home in Ash Hill Lane in Shadwell just 15 minutes earlier.

He said one of the men was carrying what appeared to be a gun and told him “stay out of Jonny’s business, stay out of your sister’s case”. Gosal’s wife, Harpreet, and sister Hardeep Sangha, were both at the address at the time, and he told officers he believed it was linked to an ongoing divorce case involving his sister’s ex-husband Harpal Sangha, known as Jonny or Jon.

Police immediately launched an investigation and Harpal Sangha was arrested the next day on suspicion of witness intimidation and held in police custody for 15 hours.

He was initially released on bail, however he was later eliminated from the investigation as police uncovered several unusual clues in the case.

Gosal had provided CCTV and when it was reviewed the detectives’ suspicions were aroused when they could hear laughing after Gosal and his wife went back into the living room.

Those suspicions were increased further when it was found the home CCTV system recorded just four clips that day compared to 59 the day before, suggesting it had been manipulated.

The investigation found the men who called at the home were Kane Allen and Matias Jozio, who were then aged 16 and 17 respectively. Mobile phone evidence placed them at the scene and Jozio matched CCTV of the incident.

Between the initial incident and mid-September, police received various reports of threatening phone calls being made to the Gosals and Hardeep Sangha.

On August 26, 2020, Gosal reported had recieved a threatening call, which he had recorded. However, when he passed the recording onto the detectives, someone could be heard saying “are you ready?” at the start, suggested the call had been staged.

On September 2, 2020, five masked males attended Harpal Sangha’s parents’ convenience store in Huddersfield, which he lived above. One shouted “tell Jonny to pay” before the group caused £2,000 worth of damage in the shop. This occurred the day before a court hearing in relation to the divorce. Jozio was identified as one of the males at the scene and enquiries also linked Kane.

On September 28, 2020, officers moved in to arrest the Gosals from their address in Shadwell and Hardeep Sangha from her home in Holmfirth.

A recording recovered from Inderjeet Gosal’s phone also featured those involved in the plot meeting on August 9 in Oakwood to discuss their plans. Allen was arrested on October 4, 2020, and Jozio on November 25.

Hardeep Sangha denied any involvement but admitted it was her laughing on the CCTV and claimed it was because her sister-in-law had gone out the house after the gun threat “like she was some sort of hero”.

All five defendants were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday (Aug 8) after being charged with offences of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, with Allen and Jozio also charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage in relation to the attack on the shop. Harpreet Gosal pleaded guilty only in relation to her report of receiving threatening calls on September 7 and 8.

Hardeep Sangha, aged 40, of New Mill Road, Holmfirth, was sentenced to four years and seven months imprisonment.

Inderjeet Gosal, aged 42, of Ash Hill Lane, Shadwell, was jailed for three years and one month.

Harpreet Gosal, aged 37, also of Ash Hill Lane, Shadwell, was given a sentence of nine months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and complete 12 rehabilitation requirement days.

Kane Allen, aged 20, of The Rein, Leeds, was sentenced to 15 months, suspended for 18 months, with 25 rehabilitation requirement days and a five-month curfew.

Matias Jozio, aged 21, of Amberton Mount, Leeds, was sentenced to 17 months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and complete 15 rehabilitation requirement days.

All of the defendants were made subject to a restraining order for 10 years prohibiting them from contacting the victim in the case.

Detective Inspector Michael Herbert, who led the Leeds District CID investigation, said: “The criminal use of firearms is something the police will always treat extremely seriously, and a report of a man being threatened at gunpoint on the doorstep of his family home was a real cause for concern that attracted a significant police response and investigation.

“Those involved clearly underestimated the level of focus that we apply to a serious incident such as this, and we quickly started to have suspicions about the authenticity of what had been reported.

“Despite the dubious circumstances of the gun threat incident, those involved in the plot continued to stage threatening phone calls over the coming weeks and reported those to the police, as well as orchestrating the attack on the victim’s parents’ shop.

“This was a determined campaign to falsely implicate Hardeep Sangha’s ex-husband during what was obviously an acrimonious divorce. Their criminal endeavours caused him significant inconvenience and tied up police time and resources.

“The web of deceit they continued to create required a complex and lengthy investigation, with tenacious work by the officer in the case Detective Constable Kate Hutton over nearly four years, to build a detailed picture of all the evidence that has resulted in their convictions.

“We hope the successful outcome of this case will serve as a clear reminder to people who think they can make false reports to police to target their enemies without the truth being uncovered.

“They may have been laughing on the CCTV clip, but I suspect they are not laughing now.”