The victim of a dramatic kidnapping was dragged from his car by two masked men who beat him and bundled him into a getaway vehicle, a court heard.
The incident took place as Macclesfield man Matthew Morris was travelling along Chester Road in Broken Cross on September 9, 2009, and stopped at a set of temporary lights.
Two men wearing balaclavas, Cain Pemberton, 20, and Ricky Jervis, 18, jumped out of their car and dragged Mr Morris from his girlfriend’s car, Chester Crown Court heard.
The duo beat him and later abandoned him on the outskirts of Macclesfield in an argument over an alleged heroin deal gone wrong.
But they were foiled as a passing ambulance saw the incident and followed the getaway car, driven by Jennifer Kay Bentley, 31, while passing information to the control room.
Police later caught and arrested the trio and found balaclavas, a baseball bat and a pick axe handle in the car.
Cain Lyndon Keith Pemberton, of Parnell Square, Congleton, and Ricky Jervis, of Dale Crescent, Congleton, were sentenced to four years in a young offenders institute, with 214 days deducted for time already served, after being found guilty of kidnapping at a earlier trial. Bentley, of Crewe Road, Alsager, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping at the start of the trial in March, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. The Recorder of Chester, Judge Elgan Edwards, told the court: "You were masked, you had weapons, and dragged him into the car.
"This kind of attack simply will not be tolerated – kidnapping is a very serious offence. In this case it’s particularly grave because you were masked, had weapons and planned it quite clearly."
Counsel for the prosecution, Simon Parry, told the court how Pemberton and Jervis beat Mr Morris with their fists, feet and a weapon before dragging him back to the car.
Jervis and Pemberton continued to beat their victim as they drove into the countryside. Mr Morris was later picked up by police ‘in the middle of nowhere’ and taken to hospital to be treated for cuts and bruises.
Counsel for the defence of Bentley, Joanne Wallbanke, told the court her client was unaware of the plan to kidnap and became too scared to stop it once the ‘unsophisticated’ events unfolded.
David Owen, defending Jervis, told the judge: "The stupidity of getting involved was recognised (by Jervis)."
Counsel for the defence of Pemberton, Simon Killeen, told the court: "Some people don’t have any real moral compass to guide their direction and if they feel aggrieved they make completely the wrong decision."
