Man traumatised after carjacking

A man was badly beaten after his car was hijacked.

Cleveland Police said it happened in the early hours of Saturday morning as the 22-year-old waited outside a hotel and nightspot in Yarm, Teesside.

The man, from Willington, County Durham, was badly bruised and traumatised and his car was later found burnt out in Middlesbrough.

Police are looking for three men in connection with the incident and are appealing for information.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said the man was waiting for his girlfriend outside the Tall Trees, in Yarm.

He was forced to drive towards Middlesbrough before being diverted on the road to Maltby.

Burnt-out

He was ordered to stop so one of the men could relieve himself and when he left the car the driver tried to move off but the handbrake was pulled on.

The driver was head butted and forced from the car when he was attacked by the man who had got out of the car, who punched him in the face and took his mobile phone.

The three men then drove off and the car - a red Seat Ibiza - was found burnt out on Sunday morning in Middlesbrough town centre.

The three men are described as white and aged 25 to 30.

One was 5ft 8ins, average build, with short cropped brown hair and scar tissue on the right side of his face. He was wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt and was bleeding from the knuckle on his right hand.

Another had brown hair, thin face, similar scarring and was wearing a light-coloured long-sleeved top.

The third was 6ft 2ins, slim, with brown hair brushed forward, with ears which stuck out and was wearing a red or orange long-sleeved shirt.