Kidnap Gang Found Guilty

The final four members of a gang have been found guilty for kidnap and torture, following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.

The victim was walking with two children when he was approached by a large group of men in February last year.

The group chased and beat him, pistol-whipping him before bundling him into a car. A female who witnessed the scene tried to intervene but was forced to retreat after being threatened by the gang. The woman managed to take the children who had run from the scene to safety.

The hostage, who has learning difficulties, was taken by his kidnappers to an address in Streatham where he was blindfolded, threatened and tortured, while ransom demands were made to various members of his family.

Brothers Kareem and Andre Ricketts, Jeremiah Clarke, and Daniel Gagliano were all found guilty of various offences.

They and four others will be sentenced today.

During his ordeal the victim was savagely punched and kicked to the head and body, and burnt with joss sticks, while his captors demanded cash and warned his family that he would be killed and sent home in a body bag if they contacted police. They further threatened to burn his genitalia, eyes and chop off his finger.

The hostage takers called from a series of different mobile phones and soon lowered their cash demands, when it became clear they would not receive the full amount for which they had asked.

On several occasions the victim was made to speak to his family and plead for the money, while on others he could be heard shouting in the background as he was tortured.

Following investigations by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Kidnap Unit, armed officers raided a flat in Hopton Road, in south west London, the day after the victim was kidnapped and arrested Tyrone Payne and Jeremiah Clarke. One of Payne's mobile phones was later found to have been one of those used to make ransom demands.

Shortly afterwards, officers entered another flat in Hopton Road, where they found the victim along with four of his captors - Andre Ricketts, Taylor Harris, Bradley George and Lerone Vincent. The hostage was incredibly distressed and immediately taken to hospital, where he was treated for his injuries, which included a fractured cheek bone.

Other suspects, including Kareem Ricketts and Daniel Gagliano, were identified as being part of the kidnap and arrested during follow-up police enquiries.

Detective Chief Inspector Craig Turner, from the Met's Kidnap Unit, said: "This was a particularly harrowing case, whereby a gang deliberately targeted a vulnerable young man and subjected him to the most horrific ordeal.

"These were dangerous individuals who have rightly faced justice for the terror they inflicted on their victim and his family."

(BMcN)