THREE men who kidnapped and threatened a Thornbury man have been given long jail sentences.
Avon & Somerset police said Lee Ingleheart, 41, Hassan Noor, 31, and 58-year-old Dean Meaker assaulted and threatened the man, bundled him into a van and drove him to another house where he was held against his will as they tried to find one of his relatives.
Police have not named the victim or the relative the men were looking for.
All three men had denied a charge of kidnap but were convicted by a jury following a Crown court trial. Ingleheart was also convicted of possessing a knife used to threaten the victim.
A police spokesperson said the trio kidnapped their 43-year-old victim from his home in Thornbury in October 2022.
They asked an acquaintance to arrange a meeting and, when the victim answered the door they went inside, assaulting and threatening him.
They took him in a Ford Transit to Stoke Park in north Bristol, where he was held against his will, assaulted and threatened again.
The victim escaped when two of the men left to buy drugs, hiding nearby and asking for help from a member of the public.
Police had already been called by a Thornbury resident who had seen Ingleheart with a large knife near the victim’s home.
Armed officers called in
Armed officers were sent out to search for the van, and it was stopped in east Bristol.
Noor and Meaker were arrested, and police seized weapons including a knuckle duster and knives.
They went to the Stoke Park property, where Ingleheart was arrested and a knife used to threaten the victim was found.
Ingleheart, of no fixed address, was sentenced to nine years and nine months in jail, with an extra four years on licence after the end of his sentence.
Noor, of Midland Street in St Philip’s, Bristol, was sentenced to nine years, and Meaker, of Westward Road, Highridge, south Bristol, was sentenced to nine years plus an extra six months for an unrelated burglary.
After the sentencing finished at Bristol Crown Court in December, Detective Constable Carl Spicer said: “The victim in this case went through a terrifying ordeal at the hands of these three criminals, who showed an extremely concerning propensity for violence, as well as being in possession of some fearsome weapons.
“He’s shown immense bravery in telling the police what happened to him and we hope he continues to recover from this horrible experience.
“We want to thank the members of the public who called police with vital information – their actions ensured armed officers were deployed and able to swiftly arrest those responsible.
“This has been a challenging investigation which has thankfully resulted in these dangerous offenders being removed from the streets for a significant amount of time.”