Gang on trial after man was kidnapped on Portsmouth street by men claiming to be police before being driven to Kent amid cash demands

The victim was approached in Victoria Road South, Southsea, on the evening of February 11, 2019, by two men who said: ‘We are the police, come with us.’

After the man replied ‘I don’t believe you’ he was put in a headlock with his legs grabbed before he was ‘manhandled’ and put into the back seat of a BMW with his head covered and driven out of the city, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Stephen Donnelly said: ‘Once kidnapped the victim was driven to Kent and transferred to the back of a van and then subjected to repeated demands for money while being struck and threatened.

‘After several hours he was then taken and dumped in Guildford after he had been dressed in a new set of clothes to protect against contamination and forensic tracing of those involved.’

Nathan Obrien, Kaine Wright, Mason Doherty, Michael Groves and Robert Worrell are all on trial for conspiracy to kidnap.

Mr Donnelly said the ‘purpose of the kidnap was reinforced days later’ with text messages sent to the victim ‘demanding money in the form of Bitcoin’.

Jurors were told the victim did not know those involved.

‘The victim did not know his kidnappers and apart from the initial moment of kidnapping his head was kept covered so he was unable to see what was happening,’ the prosecutor said.

‘He was unable to see any faces. However, from his initial description of the kidnappers' car and the two men who approached him in the street police were able to identify the vehicle and its registered keeper through data recorded on ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) between Portsmouth and Kent.’

Police were then able to monitor the movement of the vehicle with officers able to ‘identify other vehicles and individuals involved in this act of kidnapping’.

Police also monitored mobile phone records and were able to establish contact between the individuals, Mr Donnelly said.

‘That allowed police to form a picture as to how the men had acted in an agreement to kidnap the victim,’ the prosecutor said.

Mr Donnelly said the victim was dumped in a residential area in Guildford in the early hours of February 12 after being let go by the gang despite denials of knowing where any money or Bitcoin were.

The victim, who had no idea where he was, banged on a front door before stopping a car and told a man he had kidnapped before police were called.

Obrien, 28, of Russet Walk, Greenhithe, Kent; Wright, 24, of Heavitree Road, Plumstead, London; Doherty, 21, of Churchill Avenue, Chatham, Kent; Groves, 31, of Tulse Hill Road, London; and Worrell, 43, of no fixed address, all deny the charge.

Perry Hunt, 37, of Churchbury Road, London, has admitted a charge of conspiracy to kidnap.

SEE ALSO: Man in court over machete

(Proceeding)

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, for 27p a day.