Thug who blinded man with pepper spray as gang chased him to his death in canal to be deported

A gang member who previously whose body was later foundwill be deported back to France after he pleaded guilty to a raft of new offences.

Edwin Taha, 24, appeared before Teeside Crown Court on Monday where he was accused of breaching a deportation order and dealing cocaine, among others. He had previously been jailed in connection to the death of Luke Jobson, 22, who disappeared during a night out in October 2019 after a dispute with a gang outside the Keys Nightclub in Yarm.

He fled but was chased after by members, including Taha, who blinded him with pepper spray, before they left the scene. Hundreds of people joined a huge search for the popular Mr Jobson, whose in the River Tees. Taha, then 20, was later jailed for a combined six years for affray and drug offences.

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Teesside Crown Court heard on Monday how he had been “wrongly released” and spent months unlawfully at large in the UK, before police pulled him over near Hartlepool. Officers found he was driving without a licence or insurance and a search of his car found weapons, including CS spray and a baseball bat, as well as cash and gold rings, .

The court heard after he was caught for the new offences in September, officers took him to Hartlepool Police Station and his address on Park Lane, in Middlesbrough town centre was searched. Prosecutor Saba Shan said: "A North Face bag was seized, it contained cocaine, snap bags, digital scales, as well as a mobile phone. The cocaine had a street value of £10,000."

Ms Shan said the defendant was interviewed by police and admitted driving without insurance or a licence. He said he'd never seen the drugs but later pleaded guilty to a number of offences, including entering the UK in breach of a deportation order and drug possession.

In mitigation, his barrister David Ward said he was back in the country as thought he could return on a visit. Mr Ward said he lives in France but his mother and brother's live in the UK.

He said: "His main reason for coming back was he was going to have a child here, who is now eight weeks old. He was funding his ability to stay using means he should not have been.

"He is a man who is going to be deported at the end of his sentence here. He accepts he did wrong and accepts he shouldn't have been here to start with."

The court heard the defendant was "unlawfully at large" in the UK for a number of months prior to being arrested behind the wheel near Hartlepool. The court heard despite being sent back to France after his conviction, he returned to the UK and was arrested on suspicion of assault.

Ms Shan said he was "wrongly released" from court and apprehended months later in September. Taha appeared via video link in a grey sweatshirt and was told that he will spend five years and nine months in prison, before he is deported back to France.