How Gateshead murder detectives pieced together a 'jigsaw' of clues to snare ammonia gang

As Andrew Foster lay in his hospital bed after what would prove to be a fatal ammonia attack detectives faced a race against time to find the murderous gang responsible and get them off the streets.

The 26-year-old was at home with his girlfriend in Gateshead when he was sprayed in the face with the chemical after answering a knock at the door, in August. As a result Andrew could not breath. He suffered a severe respiratory attack, had a heart attack and died the next day.

Those responsible for the attack fled into the night moments later. And with no eye witnesses, no forensics evidence and little CCTV police faced a huge challenge to identify the dangermen and bring them to justice.

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But drug dealer Youssef Wynne and John Wandless, Kenneth Fawcett and Josh Hawthorn, who worked for him, were eventually all convicted of Andrew's murder following a long trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

And today after they were jailed for life and told they will serve at least 118 years in total, the detective that brought them to justice has lifted the lid on the complex and challenging investigation.

Det Insp Tam Fowler has explained how, with the help of a number of Northumbria Police's most skilled experts and by using all the technology at their disposal, his team pieced together a "jigsaw" of clues to find the killers.

He said: "It's a jigsaw and a half. It was a long and challenging investigation, we just had to keep going. We relied on a raft of experts both externally and internally. We just had to follow the evidence methodically. It sounds complex and it is complex, but if you just have faith in following the evidence you get there."

And in a message to other violent criminals Det Insp Fowler added: "If anybody is using ammonia this sends a clear message that we as a force will deal with it and they will get sentences that reflect the risk ammonia poses. Serious violence is one of our force's priorities and we will use every resource available to bring offenders to justice as the public would expect."

Police were called by the ambulance service at around 11pm on August 20 after paramedics attended an an incident on Eighton Terrace in Wrekenton.

"It was Katie Harrison who is girlfriend, she calls the ambulance service reporting her partner, Andrew Foster, had been attacked with ammonia and was struggling to breath." Katie, who was upstairs when Andrew answered the door, said she heard him scream and then shout "they have just sprayed ammonia on me".

"And that's the last thing he said," said Det Insp Fowler. "His condition went downhill. The ambulance service told her to give CPR and advised her to pour water over his face to try and attempt to get the ammonia off."

Paramedics then arrived to take over and police were on the scene soon after. Andrew was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he was put into an induced coma, as the police investigation got underway with officers securing the victim's mobile phone, looking for CCTV and calling forensics officers to the scene.

"There was a lot of urgency," said Det Insp Fowler. "We don't know who they are and we don't know if they have deliberately targeted him. If we have got people out there using ammonia, or any other weapon they are a risk and we need to get them identified, located and arrested as soon as possible."

Katie told police that she had heard the knock on the door and Andrew talking to the person, so she assumed it was someone he knew. But Katie said she did not see the attacker, so who could have been responsible remained a mystery.

"She was quite frank and explained that Andrew was a low level drug dealer in the area, so this was not uncommon," said Det Insp Fowler. "He could have been attacked by known people or unknown people. Early in the investigation you have got to look at all angles."

Police's first breakthrough came when they found that CCTV cameras in the area had captured footage of a car driving into the street and then doing a U-turn. There is also footage of two men on the street, one appearing to carry a box. Audio from one camera records Andrew's screams and the sound of the car's engine, while another camera captures footage of two people coming out the back of Andrew's home.

However, the footage was not clear enough to allow police to identify the people. And while members of the team thought the car looked like a VW Golf, they could not be certain. But police set about trying and identify any Golfs that had driven into the area at the time.

At 9.30pm on August 21 detectives were informed that Andrew had died in hospital meaning this was now murder investigation, but the available evidence was still limited.

"Ammonia is extremely difficult as it evaporates very quickly, that's why we got the forensics in early," said Det Insp Fowler. "The attack took no more than two minutes. They had not been in the house long enough to leave any significant forensics. We have got no eyewitnesses, no forensics and that extremely limited CCTV of the vehicle."

Detectives eventually identified a car that interested them, it was a stolen vehicle, on cloned plates.

"It was predominantly being used north of the river through all of August, but it did come south of the river on three days, the 12th, the 16th and the 20th- which was the day of our offence," said Det Insp Fowler.

At 5.30pm on August 22 Northumbria Police released a statement informing the public that Andrew had died and his death was being treated as murder. Then less than six hours later firefighters were called to a car fire in Ropery Way, Wallsend, when they arrived then found a burnt out VW Golf."

A further breakthrough came when police found more CCTV of the car, this time from a garage on John Reid Road in South Shields. The Golf is seen to be driven onto the forecourt, around an hour and a half after the attack. The driver gets out the car and goes to the kiosk where cameras record good quality images of the man and audio of what he says.

"We have got a good picture of him, and he's got a very distinctive tattoo on his neck," said Det Insp Fowler. "My priority is then to identify that person. He's the priority because of the image."

Chillingly the man, who we now know to be Wandless, seems completely unfazed by the extreme violence he has just participated in.

Det Insp Folwer said: "They know what they've done, but they are not scared, they are not anxious."

The camera records the man shouting over to the car to ask his passenger what type of drink he wants. The other man replies by asking for a strawberry yoghurt drink. But significantly for police the driver shouts the name "Kenny" meaning detectives now have a good image of their possible suspect, and the first name of his potential accomplice.

Police are quickly able to identify the man on the footage as Wandless and Det Insp Fowler officially nominates him a suspect. But before arresting Wandless detectives set about trying to work out who "Kenny" could be.

"He's not arrested straight away," Det Insp Fowler explains. "We have got an unknown second male, Kenny. I have to identify Kenny and that's my priority." After researching Wandless and his life police found he had a number of associates called Kenny. But detectives began to focus their attention on Kenneth Fawcett, who had a history of violence.

Fawcett was also nominated as a suspect. And telecoms evidence revealed that both before and after the attack Wandless and Fawcett were talking to one another. This evidence also confirms that both men were in the area at the time of the attack

"The best way is for me is to make sure these two are arrested at the same time because the evidence from recovering both their mobile phones I think will be crucial," said Det Insp Fowler.

Meanwhile police were also keen to ensure they could prove that the car Wandless and Fawcett were seen in was the same one on the CCTV from Andrew's street. So the murder squad called in help from another Northumbria Police department, the collision investigation unit. One of the force's top forensic collision investigators viewed the footage. And the top car expert was able to say the car was a silver or grey VW Golf Mark 6 model. And from listening to the audio he was even able to tell that it was a diesel vehicle.

The investigator was also able to see that the wing on one side of the car was a different shade of grey to the other. And after seeing pictures of the torched vehicle in Wallsend he confirmed that was in fact the same car.

Det Insp Fowler said: "This investigation relied on departments right across the force."

On August 26, six days after the attack, Wandless and Fawcett were arrested within minutes of one another. Both men had bottles of ammonia when they were arrested.

Detectives spent the next 30 hours interviewing their suspects.

"They denied and no replied," Det Insp Fowler explained. "They showed no remorse whatsoever. They didn't engage with interviewers, just denying being involved."

The following night Wandless and Fawcett were charged with Andrew's murder. But with detectives finding no links between Andrew and the two accused, who were both from the North Shields area, the investigation continued as detectives worked to discover if anyone else was involved.

The next day Det Insp Fowler carried out a thorough review of the probe so far and turned his attention to Wynne, who Andrew's family said had assaulted him previously. Telecoms evidence also showed that Fawcett had been in contact with both Wynne and a fourth man, Josh Hawthorn, before and after the attack.

"I believed there was more and there was a bigger picture to understand," the detective said: "Also we are aware that Wynne is linked to drug supply in that area. We needed to continue collecting evidence to secure the convictions of Wandless and Fawcett, but the other strand is- can we link Wynne directly to this?"

Detectives were also aware of three previous ammonia attacks that had happened in South Tyneside in the days before Andrew was targeted, one of which resulted in a woman losing her eye. Only two of the attacks were formally reported to police, and none of the victims would support any investigation. After the attack on Andrew officers went to speak to them again, but they did not change their stance.

However, while reviewing Fawcett's phone detectives found Google searches relating to the previous offences. So once again Det Insp Fowler's team called in help from some of the force's most skilled specialist officers, this time to try and get statements from the victims who had previously not wanted to speak to police.

"By using experienced detectives who are experts in victim management we revisited the three victims," said Det Insp Fowler. "They were brilliant."

At the end of October Hawthorn was arrested and charged with Andrew's murder, and Wynne, who had evaded arrest for s was held on November 10 in Consett, County Durham. He was charged the next day. Then in January all four were also charged with the other attacks.

Wynne, 39, of Wuppertal Court, Jarrow, Wandless, 33, of no fixed address, Fawcett, 33, of Balkwell Avenue, North Shields and Hawthorn, 22, of Ashfield, Jarrow were all found guilty of murder following the trial during which prosecutors said that while only Fawcett and Wandless were physically present at the fatal attack, Wynne and Hawthorn were involved in organising it.

Wynne, Fawcett and Wandless were all also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Nicola Dixon on August 16. She lost an eye as a consequence of the attack.

Wynne and Fawcett were found guilty of attempting to cause GBH with intent on a man on August 9, 2023. The man, who lived in South Shields with his children, was allegedly squirted in the face with ammonia on August 9 by Fawcett. The prosecution said that Wynne asked Fawcett to carry out this attack.

Wynne, Fawcett and Wandless were convicted of attempting to cause GBH with intent on another man on August 12 last year. He was at a house in Hebburn when he was allegedly attacked. He was sprayed in the face with ammonia and required hospital treatment. He had difficulty breathing, his eyes were stinging and his lips were swollen. Wynne was also convicted of assaulting Andrew 11 months before he died in an alleged dispute over drugs.

Wandless had pleaded guilty to handling a stolen VW Golf and arson by burning it out after it was allegedly used in three of the incidents.

All four were jailed for life. Wynne was told he must serve a minimum term of 33 years before he has any chance of parole. Fawcett must serve a minimum of 32 years. Wandless will serve a minimum term of 31 years and Hawthorn was jailed for a minimum term of 22 years.