Tipton man jailed for part in kidnap plot in which victim's finger cut off for ransom demand

The 26-year-old victim was bundled into the back of a van at gunpoint by three men wearing balaclavas in Coventry in September 2013 as he was talking to friends.

He was beaten and kicked and taken to a lock-up garage where he was left bound and gagged with a bag over his head in the van, without food or water, throughout his ordeal.

The man's family were contacted and a ransom of £60,000 was demanded, but when they didn't respond quickly enough, the gang cut the man's little finger off and left if under a brick on a garden wall for his family to find, in an attempt to force the payment from them.

Ismaeel Akbar, aged 32 from Kingsbury Road, Tipton, was jailed for 14-and-a-half years for his role after pleading guilty to unlawful imprisonment, blackmail and wounding.

DCI Simon Wallis, from the force's Criminal Investigation Department, said: "The family were understandably distraught at the thought of what else could happen to their loved one and immediately paid a ransom of £20,000.

"The victim was thrown out of the back of the van later that night on McDonnell Drive, after being kept in a garage where he had been severely kicked and beaten with a metal bar throughout his 31 hour ordeal."

The man was taken to hospital for treatment and just over two hours later armed police swooped on a house in Dovedale Avenue in Longford where several men were arrested for the kidnap. The cash, all except for a few pounds, was also recovered from the address.

Ismaeel Akbar was one of two men who pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment, blackmail and wounding.

Five men from Coventry pleaded guilty to kidnap, possession of a firearm unlawful imprisonment, blackmail and wounding.

They were Kofi Poyser, aged 23 from Dovedale Avenue, Kadeem Poyser, aged 31 from Browning Road, Wyken,

Ricardo Grant, aged 24 from Watcombe Road, Henley Green, Lamar Grant, aged 26 from Broad Park Road, Henley Green and Jermaine Campbell, aged 25 from Broad Park Road, Henley Green. They were each jailed for between 13 and 16 years.

Three defendants were found guilty at trial of unlawful imprisonment, blackmail and wounding. They were Ralph McLeod, aged 37, of Belmont Road, who was sentenced to 18 years, Lewis Poyser, aged 24 of Belmont Road, who was jailed for 18 years and Yusuf Akbar, aged 33 from Wynn Street, Birmingham, who received 12 years.