Members of a gang of men and women who travelled from across the country, including one man who flew over specifically from the Netherlands with the intent to carry out a tactical and disturbing kidnap plot,have been sentenced to a combined total of 28 years in jail.
Anthony Andjole, 30, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the regulation of investigatory powers act on day one of a trial, having already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and possession of a firearm with intent at an earlier court hearing in May 2025. He has been sentenced to 12 years behind bars following a new hearing at Hull Crown Court.
The two-week trial started at the same court on Monday, 1 December 2025, with a jury finding David Glen-Meade, 33, of Home Close in Leicester, guilty of conspiracy to kidnap. Glen-Meade has been sentenced to seven years behind bars.
On day two of the trial, Michael McDonald, 54, of Acacia Road, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and possession of a firearm with intent and he has now been sentenced to nine years in prison.
Two women, Chloe Brooks, 34, of Broom Hill Drive, Doncaster, and Indiana Smith, 22, of Flint Road, Newark, both entered guilty pleas on the same day to participating in the activities of an organised crime group. Brooks has subsequently been handed a 24-month community order, and Smith has been given a six-month sentence suspended for two years.
In addition, Justin Render, 35, of Sheridan Street in Leicester was charged with handing stolen goods, conspiring to kidnap, possession of a firearm and possession of a class B drug and was found not guilty of all offences on conclusion of the trial and was subsequently released from custody.
How the plot unravelled
Humberside Police’sControl Room received a report from the owner of an Airbnb on Barrow Road, Goxhill, on Tuesday, 28 January 2025, raising concerns about suspicious activity at the property.
Following the sentencing hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Ben Robinson, who led the investigation, said: “ The owner reported that whilst a booking was made by a woman for a family trip with her baby, instead a group of men had entered the property and were suspected to be committing burglary.
“Officers were immediately deployed to the area, and three men were spotted before they fled the scene on foot in an attempt to avoid arrest. A short foot pursuit ensued, and two men, later identified as Andjole and Render were arrested on suspicion of burglary.
“A third man fled the scene. Little did the officers realise that when they attended and arrested the men, they were in fact disrupting an international kidnap plot. Both men were searched following their arrest, and two pieces of paper was discovered on Andjole containing the Airbnb address and details of a house in Hull marked as ‘target’.
“Officers subsequently conducted a search at the address on Barrow Road that evening discovering balaclavas, hammers, nails, rope and cable ties, this was confirmed to be a kidnap kit which was planned to be used by the three men to restrain the individual at the target address.
“On the drive of the address was a stolen Nissan Navara which was planned to be used to transport the victim back to the address in Goxhill. A further search of the property in Goxhill the following day resulted in a firearm and ammunition being recovered.”
An investigation was immediately launched by the Major Crime Team who trawled through CCTV footage from Goxhill and the surrounding area and were able to identify the Navara travelling the day before (Monday, 27 January 2025) to the Hull address to finalise their plans.
Police said CCTV from the Airbnb showed an unknown man and a woman parking a Volkswagen Golf on the street and entering the property at around 12:30pm on Sunday, 26 January 2025 staying only for a couple of minutes. Also on CCTV, the two men arrested, and the third man who fled the scene, were shown to enter the property the following day on Monday, 27 January.
The original booker was contacted by the owner of the Airbnb, and she claimed to have no knowledge of who the men were on the CCTV or why they were there. The Major Crime team swiftly identified the third man that entered the property and had fled the scene as Glen-Meade from the area of Wolverhampton. Detectives linked in with colleagues from West Midlands Police and as a result of cross-border police work, he was arrested at his home address on Friday, 31 January 2025 and later charged with conspire to kidnap.
Whilst in custody, Andjole’s mobile phone was seized and forensic analysis revealed text messages outlining a detailed kidnap plan that he had travelled over specifically from Amsterdam to conduct. Additional CCTV enquiries identified the Volkswagen Golf was linked to McDonald and Brooks, who were then identified as the man and woman on the CCTV, and it was traced to an address in Doncaster.
Officers attended an address on Broom Hill Drive in Doncaster on Thursday, 6 February and Chloe Brooks was arrested. Further enquiries led to McDonald’s arrest at his home address on Wednesday, 19 February 2025.
The investigation identified Smith had booked the Airbnb which ensured that the organised crime group had a secure location to operate the kidnap plot from. She was located by officers trying to leave the country at Holyhead Port in Wales on Wednesday, 26 March 2025 and was arrested.
As a result, all six were charged with various offences. Andjole, Render, Glen Meade and McDonald were remanded into prison, and Brooks and Smith were both released on conditional bail.
‘Carefully orchestrated and deeply disturbing’
DCI Robinson continued: “I want to begin by commending everyone involved in this investigation for their tenacity and dedicated work. At the start, we had such limited information, but the team carried out a detailed and lengthy investigation following every line of enquiry to ensure that the full picture of this incident was understood which meant that we built up a wealth of evidence which was crucial in ultimately securing the charges for all six individuals.
“This was a carefully orchestrated and deeply disturbing kidnap plot, involving Andjole who travelled from Amsterdam, and others from across the country, to carry it out. Thankfully, no one became a victim or was injured as a result, and this could have resulted in a very different outcome had they been able to implement their sinister plan.
“Thanks to the expertise of our specialist teams and the strength of the evidence gathered, I am pleased these offenders have now been brought to justice and will now face the consequences of their actions after receiving significant sentences behind bars. Violent crime of this nature will never be tolerated, and our Major Crime Team will continue working tirelessly to remove dangerous individuals from our streets.”
If you have any concerns about what’s happening in your area, speak to your local officer, call into your nearest station or call our non-emergency 101 line. If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, you can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. If someone is in immediate danger, always call 999.