Detectives worked around the clock to ensure justice

AS schoolboy Gordon Gault lay fatally injured in his hospital bed, detectives were working round the clock to discover who had stabbed him with a machete and why.

And even after the 14-year-old passed away six days later, cops faced a wall of silence from the gangs whose clash led to his death.

In the hours and days after the stabbing, near Newcastle’s Elswick Park, police made numerous arrests as they tried to piece together who was involved in the street violence that had such tragic consequences.

But as the suspects were interviewed, it quickly became clear that no-one was going to tell police the truth about what happened to Gordon, and detectives were facing the long and painstaking task of piecing it all together.

Carlos Neto and Lawson Natty, both 18, were eventually convicted of Gordon’s manslaughter in

January following a long trial at Newcastle Crown Court, during which jurors heard how the teenager was stabbed as part of an “ongoing violent feud,” between two gangs that involved “tit-for-tat violence”.

After the pair were sentenced to a total of almost 12 years in prison, the Northumbria Police detective who put them behind bars has lifted the lid on the “difficult” investigation.

Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) Det Chief Insp Matt Steel has told The Chronicle how his team overcame the silence they faced from the suspects and some of the local community.

He said: “Nobody was telling us what happened and nobody was telling us what led to it. That was a really difficult position to be in as an investigation team.

“The people involved didn’t tell us what happened and I’m confident there are others in the community who would have known what happened and why, and either wouldn’t tell us because they didn’t want to or were fearful to tell us.”

Gordon, who lived in Benwell with his family, was stabbed during a violent fight on the evening of November 9, 2022.

He was carried away from the scene to Sovereign Place before being taken to the Royal Victoria

Infirmary by ambulance.

As the clash, which visibly involved weapons including machetes, erupted, a number of calls were made to Northumbria Police’s control room, which were quickly linked together, Det Chief Insp Steel, explained.

The court heard how a machete had cut all the way through Gordon’s arm, severing vital blood vessels and causing extensive bleeding, and he was in a critical condition when he arrived at hospital.

Det Chief Insp Steel said: “Quite quickly on that evening it was established we had a very seriously injured 14-year-old boy, which is difficult and emotive to deal with.”

After viewing CCTV overnight, police established that Gordon had been injured after two groups came together near Elswick Park.

Officers found a machete sheath on nearby Brunel Terrace along with other items that could have been used in the fight and by the following day, officers were able to arrest a number of people, including Carlos Neto.

But with those in custody giving nothing away, detectives realised they would need to use CCTV, mobile phone records and social media to work out who was involved.

“It quickly became obvious that the associations and unpicking who was linked to who and the online associations through social media was going to be difficult,” said Det Chief Insp Steel. “Then we got our first forensic result on the sheath.

“The extensive CCTV trawl had already started in addition to