Captive market

By Anita Rice
BBC News Magazine

While the plot to snatch Tony Blair's youngest son grabbed front-page headlines, every week there are dozens of reported kidnappings which don't even make the inside pages.

Abduction, torture, threats to kill - such criminal acts have the ring of a lawless, anarchic society.

But they are the bread and butter of Detective Superintendent Alan Pughsley, and his stomping ground is not Iraq, Somalia or Colombia, rather the streets of the UK's capital city.

"We have had people pistol-whipped on the street, taken to a stronghold, tied-up and had a balaclava put over their head," says the man who heads up the Metropolitan Police's kidnap unit.

Iron burns

"People have had boiling water poured on them and cigarettes stubbed out on them and a boiling hot iron impressed on someone's back."

When the Sun broke the story of a plan by breakaway members of the campaign group Fathers for Justice to kidnap Tony Blair's son Leo, not surprisingly it made headlines around the world.

WHO'S AT RISK? The risk of kidnap is almost zero to ordinary members of the public - child custody issues aside Anybody who has any political or financial power or influence should consider themselves - and their loved ones - potentially vulnerable Illegal immigrants and those who can't speak English very well are vulnerable Security analyst Charles Shoebridge

But for every Leo Blair there are thousands of anonymous kidnap victims whose plight goes largely unrecorded in the media.

Last year, 442 kidnappings were reported in the capital alone. Across England and Wales the figure for abductions in 2004/5 was 2,790.

The Met's specialist kidnap team, SCD7, handled 60 of the most serious abductions in London last year.

In one case an 11-year-old boy was abducted by a gang while walking home from school in Southall, west London. The child, the son of a wealthy businessman, was forced to plead over the phone with his father to pay the £40,000 ransom demand.

The boy was released unharmed and his captors were jailed for between 12 and 20 years.

'Demand or kill'

In another, a 31-year old man from Estonia underwent emergency brain surgery and was in a coma for six weeks after he was found lying unconscious at the bottom of a block of flats in east London.

The hostage had been taken by six members of a Latvian gang who attempted to extort money from his friends and relatives. The victim had no connections to the gang. The men were jailed for between five and nine years.

Reliable statistics for kidnappings are extremely difficult to establish.

DS Pughsley says around 70% of kidnaps are 'criminal-on-criminal' offences

Figures can appear to overstate the number of offences because they include a wide range of events from high-risk "demand or kill" incidents to lower priority allegations of child abductions made by families engaged in custody disputes.

But by the same token, the true extent of kidnap crime could be underestimated because many are never officially reported. The first thing most victims are instructed to do is not to involve the police.

Even after the release of a hostage, many victims do not go to the police for fear of reprisals. The reluctance to report helps explain why Det Supt Pughsley's team deals with just a fraction of the total reported abductions.

The unit does, however, boast a 100% success rate in retrieving hostages alive. It's a similar picture nationally, says Assistant Chief Constable Mick Creedon, the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on kidnap and extortion.

Where the police have been involved there's been no loss of life for at least 10 years, he says.

'Firm stance'

Serious kidnappings, at least, are comparatively rare, says Det Supt Pughsley, and most are confined to a small section of society. Seventy percent of those reported to the Met's kidnap unit were carried out by criminal gang members targeting rival groups.

Gangs end up taking hostages - and threatening or using violence - over disputes involving money, stolen drugs or other property.

"The ransoms can be very small amounts of money or simply the return of a stolen car, but they happen because they [gangs] fear a loss of face or respect... it is a way of making sure another gang respects 'my gang'," says Det Supt Pughsley.

"From the start, when we are made aware of a kidnap, our priority is saving life. Prosecution is secondary. So, people are more open than you would think."

Many kidnaps are only reported once the hostage is released

The rise in illegal immigration, such as women who have been trafficked into the sex industry and forced to work as prostitutes, has also swelled the number of abductions. Gangs with overseas connections can target victims, and demand ransoms, in both the UK and abroad.

International kidnapping is far more complicated, says ACC Creedon, because it will involve more than one police force and information is often limited.

The Met's kidnap unit is unique in Britain. Its success, says Det Supt Pughsley, is down to being a dedicated team and having immediate access to other specialist departments.

"Within one hour of receiving a report of a demand or kill kidnap, we will have deployed covert resources. Nationally that would not happen, in the Met we can just dip into specialist support.

"There are a number of options on release. A successful resolution for us is one where, in one way or another, we safely find the hostage."

There have been three kidnaps in London already this year, all of which have been solved.

"We have taken a very firm stance," says Det Supt Pughsley. "We publish our results to show kidnappers if you do this in London we are coming after you. We will catch you."

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Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

You involve the police straight away. Who's to say that if you pay a ransom they will free the hostage? They may be bluffing, they may want more ransom money - you never know what is going through the mind of someone who would actually kidnap someone.
Holly, Aberdeen

For all the bad publicity that the police sometimes get, it's important for people to remember that they do such an important job, as demonstrated by the Met's 100% success rate in getting hostages back alive.
Karl Chads, London

99% of us are ok we won't get kidnapped because we are worth nothing. However, the rich and famous are easy targets and no doubt they have been advised what to do if it happens to them. As for normal everyday people it's not worth thinking about. If I get taken they will be lucky to get the price of the phone call back.
Ged, Manchester

One of the most frightening aspects of all this is the lightness of the sentences - 12 years for kidnapping an 11-year-old and forcing them to plead for their life! Shouldn't they spend the rest of their lives in prison for doing something like that? Surely?
Tony, Bristol

It is always important to involve the police, no matter whether you think you can deal with it yourself. They will have the resources and knowledge to know how to deal with situations in order to get the best result, they can also provide the necessary support you'll need and help you need to make the most informed decision. At the end of the day we would all be out of our minds if it happened to any of our families, you cannot think straight then and a simple decision you make, if you are on your own without help (no matter how small) could have catastrophic results.
Celene, West Midlands

It is good to hear though the media how our police forces are being successful. Too often the police forces are vilified. Well done!
Peter, Manchester

To Dave, London: Yours is the kind of uncertainty which makes kidnapping viable. If kidnappers knew they would NEVER get a ransom and would ALWAYS get a prison cell they wouldn't do it. I know it's easy to say but I am confident that I would never pay a ransom, even for my kids. I would, however, want the kidnappers' heads on plates.
Stuart Edwards, Hitchin, Herts

I think that most of us are safe from kidnap, but if you win the lottery I would suggest you tick the no-publicity box and avoid purchasing that flash car.
Rick Hough, Knutsford

I work for social services (primarily dealing with vulnerable people's financial problems i.e. debts). We have noticed a trend where "loan sharking" - the illegal lending of money appears to have been replaced by dealers and (informal) drug debts. Some years back, we dealt with a case where it was alleged (the family refused to discuss the matter) a drug dealer had "kidnapped" a 14-year-old girl and held her until the parents paid the elder son's drug debts in full.
Mark, Newcastle

The police are doing a fantastic job in tracing and punishing kidnappers. Please let us not become a lawless society. Let us continue to send the message to would-be kidnappers that Britain will not tolerate this crime and that all those involved in it will be hunted down and severely dealt with.
Julia, London

Actually paying a ransom is not the safest way, as once the kidnappers have the money the hostage becomes more of a liability. It is far safer to involve the police straight away.
Steve, Kent

It is extremely difficult to know whether or not you would involve the police if you found yourself in this situation - it doesn't bear thinking about - but if you do bow down to the kidnappers and don't involve the authorities at all, they are then free to perhaps kidnap others if they are making such "easy money" and getting away with it. I think the fear of somebody else having to go through such an ordeal would encourage me to call the police, if only after the hostage had been released and returned safely.
Lesley, Birmingham

To Dave in London: If kidnappers are unwilling to kill (or to be charged with murder), they won't kill the hostage no matter whether the family calls the police. If they don't care, they'll absolutely kill the hostage whether you pay the ransom, call the police or both. It makes perfect sense to call in the authorities in every single case of kidnapping, and as quickly as humanly possible.
Charlene, Calgary

I had no idea how bad it was out there. Thank God, we have got some crack teams out there working for us.
Debbie Lampard, Whyteleafe, Nr Croydon, Surrey

Hopefully the 100% success rate of live recoveries will encourage more people to report kidnappings.
Sian, Farnborough

In my home town in Poland, kidnapping happened quite frequently when I lived there. Around 15 years ago my friend was kidnapped and we had to hand over food - such as bread and gherkins - before he was released.
Robin Malinowski, Edinburgh

If I had a close relative kidnapped and was told not to involve the police, I would worry because I wouldn't know whether the police would allow me to pay the ransom and if they would keep their presence unknown to the kidnappers, etc. It would appear that paying the ransom would be the safest way to proceed.
Dave, London

This is worrying to say the least. I am glad to hear that the police are so successful in saving peoples lives. Keep up the good work!
Kat, London

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