The final three men involved in a kidnapping plot back in April 2019 have been jailed in Manchester this week
Shaun Freeman aged 30 of Rosshill Walk, Manchester, was jailed for nine years.
Delroy Chin aged 47 of Woodstock, Billing Road, Northampton, was jailed for 11 years and Micah Walfall aged 40 of Pen Court, Northampton was sentenced to 11 years and three months at Manchester Crown Court
The three men were misleadingly dressed as police officers and falsely arrested him, placing him into the back of a black Audi vehicle which had false number plates.
The kidnappers drove the victim to a back street in Gorton where they dragged him out from the car, put a hood over his head, a gun to his head and put him in a van which drove to a building in the area.
The victim was held for 13 hours where the group threatened him using an imitation firearm as well as brutally torturing him, using weapons such as a blowtorch and taser, in order to scare him into co-operating with their demands.
The group contacted various members of the victim’s family and demanded a ransom which they eventually demanded be delivered to an address in Birmingham.
Those that had left the lockup were rounded up in the following weeks and months – other than Walfall who had fled the country and was eventually tracked down in Spain.
Walfall pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap at an earlier court appearance having fled the country following the kidnap and was eventually tracked down in Spain. Freeman and Chin were found guilty following a trial at Manchester Crown Court in April this year.
Detective Sergeant Mark Evans, of our Major Incident Team, said: “This was a lengthy investigation and I am pleased that today we have concluded proceedings by locking up the final three members involved in this plot.
“Freeman was a friend of the victim, regularly playing football with him. As well as luring the victim to the Parrswood Centre, he also recorded the vehicle registration of the victim in his mobile phone, along with the names of the victim’s family members.
“He sourced the lockup used to hold the victim and met with the kidnap team in the days before the actual kidnap, travelling in convoy with their vehicles from the lockup where the victim would eventually be held on a visit to a pub in Alderley Edge, which was set up as the original drop location for the ransom money.
“We hope this provides some closure for the victim and their family and they can finally move forward with their lives. I would like to thank them for their patience and assistance with this investigation.”
