Four men who kidnapped a man, bound his hands and threatened to shoot him have been jailed for a total of more than 30 years. The victim was held for more than 22 hours after being abducted while delivering a watch to a customer in Everton, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Kidnap and Demands
At around 8.20pm on Saturday, March 28, the man was in a car with his partner on Dunkeld Close when he was invited into a house. Once inside, a group of men forced him face down onto the floor before binding his hands, mouth and eyes with duct tape. He was then placed inside his own vehicle and driven away, with his partner ordered to leave.
The offenders subsequently used the victim's phone to contact his associates, demanding watches and jewellery and threatening to shoot him if their demands were not met.
Spending Spree and Recovery
The following day, Sunday, March 29, they used his phone to arrange the purchase of six Sur-Ron electric motorbikes and a REVVI bike. A total of £15,200 was taken from the victim's bank account to pay for the vehicles, which were delivered later that day. Watches were also dropped off at an agreed location at Asda on Breck Road. Two men on scrambler bikes were seen collecting a bag before travelling towards Hygeia Street.
Following further enquiries, officers entered an address on the street shortly before 6.45pm, where they discovered five suspects alongside the victim, who had sustained minor injuries. Police also recovered the six Sur-Ron bikes and the REVVI bike, alongside jewellery and watches which had been delivered.
Sentences Handed Down
On Friday, October 2, Patrick Gray, 21, of Stanley Road, Everton, was jailed for eight years and three months for kidnap, blackmail and fraud, as well as unrelated driving offences. Connor Kenny, 21, of John Street, Liverpool, was jailed for seven years and seven months for kidnap, blackmail and fraud. Callum Walsh, 22, of no fixed address, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for kidnap, blackmail and fraud. A fourth man, Anthony White, 23, of no fixed address, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for kidnap, blackmail and fraud on Friday, November 6.
A fifth man, Joseph Patrick Nolan, 47, of Hygeia Street, Liverpool, was convicted and sentenced at an earlier hearing for permitting premises to be used for the supply of a Class B controlled drug. He received a 12-month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge.
Detective Constable Hannah Stewart said: “Gray, Kenny, Walsh and White put their victim through a truly harrowing ordeal. For more than 22 hours, he was put in fear of what they would do to him if their demands were not met.”
“They subjected him to this awful experience purely for financial gain. But thanks to the work of officers, the watches, jewellery and Sur-rons they thought they were gaining were all promptly seized when police raided the property. These offenders showed a complete disregard for the victim, but his loved ones too were put through an agonising 22 hours during which they would have feared the worst.”
“The offenders’ plan to extract cash and expensive goods from the victim was callous and pre-mediated, and it is right that they will now spend a significant period of time behind bars to consider the impact of their actions. I want to take this opportunity to highlight the outstanding work of all those officers involved in what proved to be a uniquely challenging situation to overcome. Through sensitive enquiries, effective tactical planning and ultimately a forced entry to the address, the victim was safeguarded, the offenders arrested and the bikes and jewellery recovered and returned to their rightful owners.”
“I hope the sentencing of these five criminals sends a very clear message that crime does not pay. It only brings pain and misery, and for these five defendants a lengthy jail term.”
