A GANG who were found guilty of falsely imprisoning a Worcester man have been jailed for a total of 65 and a half years.

The men were jailed at Worcester Crown Court today after the jury heard how the 37-year-old victim was held captive, stripped naked, beaten with hammers and stabbed over the space of 24 hours after he was kidnapped in Kidderminster on Friday, August 3 last year.

Robert Watters, aged 47, of Chester Road, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, drove the vehicle used to kidnap the victim admitted conspiracy to kidnap and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Tariq Mahmood, aged 41, of Castle Hill Drive, Castle Bromwich, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap, false imprisonment and causing grievous bodily harm with intent part way through the four week trial while his accomplice Paul Murray, aged 42, of Linwood Court, Birmingham, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and false imprisonment during the trial.

They were sentenced to 17 and 15 years respectively while three other men were also found guilty by a jury.

Tehery Mahmood, aged 37, of Mears Drive, Stechford, Birmingham, was found guilty of false imprisonment and causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was sentenced to 14 years while Steven Taylor, aged 37, of Johnstone Street, Aston, Birmingham, was found guilty of false imprisonment and sentenced to two and a half years.

A third man was sentenced to 17 years in prison but cannot be named for legal reasons.

Another man, Robert Collins, aged 58, of Eastham Court, Severnside, Bewdley, is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, September 24.

The victim's ordeal began when he returned from work at around 10pm on Saturday, August 3 last year and was kidnapped from outside his home address in Upton Road, Kidderminster.

He was assaulted and bundled into a vehicle by Mahmood and Murray and was driven to a storage container in Coleshill by Watters.

He was stripped naked and tortured which involved being beaten with hammers and suffered extensive bruising, two broken ankles, a broken arm and a broken cheek bone.

The following day he was moved from the container to an unknown location where he was repeatedly stabbed.

He was taken to an address on Sycamore Road, Handsworth where he was left in the boot of a vehicle for hours before being released on Monday, August 5, when he was dumped naked in a Birmingham street, where he was found by members of the public and taken to hospital.

Detective Superintendent Paul Williamson led the investigation for West Mercia Police and said: “Kidnapping is a particularly violent and serious criminal offence and the victim in this case was lucky to escape alive but has suffered life changing psychological and physical injuries.

“Despite determined efforts to frustrate the investigation and evade capture, including disposal of vehicles and the container, the investigation team successfully gathered evidence to identify the role played by each defendant who were then tracked down and arrested.”

He thanked colleagues from Warwickshire Police, West Midlands Police, the National Crime Agency and Regional Organised Crime Unit who assisted during the investigation as well as members of the public who had called police when they found the victim.

West Mercia Police has also been granted confiscation orders against two vehicles used in the course of the commission of the offences.