'It's better than a kick in the cobblers': Brave mechanic awarded £13,000 seized from gangster after he was tied up, pistol whipped and attacked with machete at his garage in Leeds

Ian Mitchell was awarded the sum as compensation over his ordeal in which he was subjected to a brutal attack at his premises in Holbeck.

The 60-year-old suffered a serious wound to his body after being struck with the blade of a machete as he fought back against Mark Davis and Kai Kennedy when they targeted his business in Water Lane.

The two gang members robbed Mr Mitchell of £140,000 of Porsche car parts during the incident in September 2015.

The attackers were part of a gang of six people who plotted to rob him of high-value parts to an £800,000 red Porsche Carrera GT he had been carrying out repair work on.

Five gang members were jailed for a total of more than 50 years at Leeds Crown Court last December after a long and complex police investigation.

The case returned to the court last week for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.

The court heard that the gang benefited by £105,086.

Only one member of the gang, Mark Davis, had assets available to be seized.

Davis was ordered to pay the sum of £13,640, to be paid to Mr Mitchell as compensation.

The four other defendants - Kai Kennedy, Harry Mahoney, Jenna Davis, and Owen Walcott - have no assets available.

They were each ordered to pay the nominal sum of £1.

After the case, Mr Mitchell said: "It's come as a pleasant surprise.

"I never really expected to get any compensation out of this. That's not usually how my luck runs.

"It's totally out of the blue - but it's better than a kick in the cobblers!"

Mr Mitchell said he still lives with the psychological and financial effects of the attack almost five years later.

He said: "The increase in insurance afterwards put me about £16,000 out of pocket so it's nice to get this money.

"I have got to move on but what happened is always there in the back of your mind.

"If I'm working I always have the doors locked. Sometimes you think 'will there be reprisals' but you just have to get on with it.

"I think the police have been marvellous. It took a long time to catch them but they were tenacious and did a great job."

The YEP reported last year how a judge praised Mr Mitchell's bravery as she jailed the gang members.

Judge Penelope Belcher: “I was impressed by the stamina and pluck he showed in the face of this frightening incident.

"He showed immense courage.”

Davis and Kennedy went into Mr Mitchell's garage on the day of the offence to make an enquiry about a bumper repair.

Mr Mitchell said: “I went into my office and when I came back out I was looking down the barrel of a gun.

“At first I thought it was someone having a laugh until one of them said ‘if you don’t want to get hurt and want to go home tonight you will do what I say.'"

The men told Mr Mitchell they had come for the ‘red parts’.

The gun was held to his temple while his wrists were bound together with cable ties.

One of the men then unsheathed a machete in front of him.

Mr Mitchell said: “I remember thinking ‘that is a nasty looking thing.'”

The victim said he tried to fight back when the two robbers briefly separated as they went in search of the parts.

He said: “I managed to break out of the cable ties. I was thinking ‘I will have him (Kennedy), lock the office and call the police.’”

Before he could put his escape plan into place Davis returned holding the gun.

Mr Mitchell said: “I backed into the office and will never forget what happened next.

“I had nothing to defend myself with and he came barging in. I thought ‘this is my only chance’ and grabbed the barrel of the gun.”

Davis hit Mr Mitchell to the side of the head with the gun and bullets fell from the weapon onto the floor.

Kennedy struck the business owner to the body with the weapon.

The pair tied him to a chair with duct tape which they also used to cover his mouth and eyes.

The robbers reversed their hire van into the premises, causing damage to two other Porsches which were undergoing repair.

They loaded the van with the car parts but damaged the roof of the vehicle on a shutter as they made their getaway.

The damage to the roof enabled police to track the van on motorway cameras as they drove across the Pennines along the M62 to Manchester.

Mr Mitchell called police after he managed to untie himself.

Five members of the gang were eventually brought to justice after a lengthy West Yorkshire Police investigation which saw officers travel to Bulgaria to arrest ringleader Owen Walcott.The sixth man - Wahseem Fazal - is still at large.

Those sentenced in December last year over the robbery plot were:

Mark Davies, 36, of Pendragon Place, Failsworth, Manchester. Sentenced to 13 years for the robbery conspiracy, assault and firearms offences.

Kai Kennedy, 22, of Brewster Street, Harpurhey, Manchester. Sentenced to 12 years and six months for the robbery conspiracy, wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.

Harry Mahoney, 28, of Moorfield Drive, Hyde, Manchester. Sentenced to ten years and nine months for the robbery conspiracy.

Jenna Davies, 34, of Moorfield Drive, Hyde, Manchester. Jailed for six years for the robbery conspiracy.

Owen Walcott, 42, of Kingsbridge Road, Manchester. Sentenced to 13 years for conspiracy to commit robbery.

Another gang member, Wahseem Fazal, is still wanted by police.