Kidnap on Britain's streets

By Amardeep Bassey
Jonathan Maitland show, BBC Radio 5 Live

Nobody would have heard the muffled screams as Abid's interrogators set about their victim with clinical brutality.

Tied to a chair and with his face badly beaten he could only plead for his life and was ready to admit to anything.

"They said if I screamed then they'd hurt me more. The pain was unbelievable," Abid recalls.

It sounds like the testimony of a prisoner in some despot regime's jail but the reality is that such violent scenes are being enacted undetected in Britain practically every day.

Abid - not his real name - is just one of hundreds of people who are the silent victims of kidnapping each year in the UK.

Hear more about this story on the Jonathan Maitland show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday 22 February at 7pm.

You are unlikely to hear about their cases in the news because the vast majority are so-called "bad on bad" kidnappings - criminals capturing and torturing others involved in organised crime.

It's been going on since the days of the Kray Twins and earlier but today's kidnappers are that much more ruthless and are prepared to 'lift' or 'jack' people, as they call it, over the most trivial of disputes.

Over the past few weeks I have heard the stories of seven victims from the West Midlands.

Torture

Abid had stolen a few hundred pounds from his drug suppliers and even though he was prepared to pay the money back, they continued to beat him to send out a message to other potential defaulters.

"I must have said 'Let me make a phone call' about 20 times," he said. "But they were intent to teach me a lesson so they wouldn't look soft if someone else did it.

"Next thing that happened is the guy put a tow rope round my neck and held me down and all three lads, big lads bigger than me, they said if you resist we'll beat you bad."

I have been shown round a garage which used to be used as a torture chamber. My guide was Tariq - not his real name - a former street gang leader with convictions ranging from armed robbery to attempted murder.

They'd be like a choking chicken. Back arches, eyes roll over, total devastation 'Tariq', former gangster

He showed me a sun bed which he used to burn victims, and an old car battery with jump leads he used to administer an electric shock.

"This is famous sparky," Tariq told me. "We would damp the victim down with a wet sponge, and then the minute we put the electrodes on it would give off sparks.

"They'd be like a choking chicken. Back arches, eyes roll over, total devastation."

Abid survived his four-hour ordeal after calling his mother who agreed to pay his drug debt.

"When she opened the door she just cried," said Abid, who needed hospital treatment for broken fingers, ribs and a fractured cheekbone.

Victims like Abid are understandably reluctant to go to the police, fearing further reprisals or because they are involved in crime themselves.

"These people were very well connected in the area and it would have only taken a little phone call to get me lifted again. The area I come from, no-one tolerates a grass."

Wall of silence

The police know about hundreds of cases of kidnap each year, but they believe there are probably many more cases they do not find out about because the victims are mainly criminals themselves.

Suzanne Williams, the former head of the Metropolitan Police's kidnap unit and a leading hostage negotiator, says that although those related to the victims are often reluctant to report such kidnappings, when the police get involved they manage to get the hostage back in virtually every case.

She said, "The priority for the police is always the saving of life rather than a prosecution."

Former police officer Kirk Dawes now works as a mediator between rival gangs in inner city Birmingham and says kidnapping is becoming as fashionable as the gun as the weapon of choice in gangland circles.

"They've realised that shooting someone isn't going to get them their money back," he said.

"I've heard of youths being snatched off the streets in broad daylight and severely beaten over a £10-£20 debt. Or increasingly now there's not even money involved - it's about someone disrespecting another.

"The victim may be released after a few hours but the kidnappers will still try and hold sway over him after that.

"That's how a lot of people get caught up in carrying out a gang's dirty work. They are forced to do it because they once owed."

Innocent victims

But it is not just disputes over money and respect which are being solved through kidnap.

And not all the victims are criminals.

I spoke to an Asian former gang leader who has kidnapped victims in the UK over family feuds and disputes originating in the sub-continent.

The problem is escalating. I've heard of innocent girlfriends and sisters being abducted off the streets and sexually assaulted Kirk Dawes, gang mediator

Tony - not his real name - admits people within his community used to hire him to track down runaway brides and that branching out to kidnapping was just him "diversifying my skills."

"I had a case once where a councillor in Kashmir was refusing to stand down so his opponents called me and I kidnapped his brothers who lived in the Midlands," said Tony.

"We held them for a few days until the elections in Kashmir were over and the councillor had resigned."

Kirk Dawes believes kidnapping is on the rise. He says it exists in any community where there is organised crime.

"The problem is escalating. I've heard of innocent girlfriends and sisters being abducted off the streets and sexually assaulted. I've heard of threats being made against children but thankfully I've not seen it happen yet."

---

Hear more about this story on the Jonathan Maitland show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday 22 February at 7pm, or download the free podcast