Drug dealer in Wolverhampton kidnap plot court is told
A drug dealer, who says he was beaten and doused in petrol during a kidnapping plot, phoned the mother of his child and said he needed £30,000 to stop him from being killed, a court was told.
Randhir 'Ricky' Jutla was bundled into a Jeep in Sweetman Street, Whitmore Reans, shortly before midnight and subjected to a 15-hour ordeal, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Scott Benjamin, aged 26, is alleged to have masterminded the operation, while Andre White, also 26, is accused of driving the 4x4 jeep which police eventually brought to a halt in the Staffordshire countryside.
Emma Kaur, who is the mother of Mr Jutla's child, yesterday told the jury she became worried when Mr Jutla did not return to her Sweetman Street home last May.
Ms Kaur told the court she received phone calls from her her ex-partner the following morning during which he said he had been grabbed and needed £30,000 to stop his kidnappers from killing him. She told the court she called the police, which led to officers monitoring calls to track down Mr Jutla.
Ms Kaur told the jury: "He left the criminal life behind a long time ago. We are on civil terms for our daughter's sake. He is a hard working man and a loving father."
Mr Stefan Kolodynski, defending Benjamin, told Ms Kaur: "You knew Mr Jutla was up to no good when he left the house that night. What you have told the jury is a pack of lies." Benjamin, from Hugh Road, Watford, and White, of Riverbank Mews, Stafford, deny conspiracy to kidnap.
White also pleaded not guilty to unlawfully imprisoning Mr Jutla.
The trial continues.
