Behead-threat duo jailed for kidnap

Two men who kidnapped a 14-year-old boy and threatened to behead him if his father did not pay a £40,000 ransom have been jailed.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed Abdul Miah, 29, was jailed for 17 years and Liban Mohammed, 20, was jailed for 11 years after they were found guilty of kidnap and blackmail at Sheffield Crown Court.

Officers said the teenager was bundled into a car as he was standing outside an off-licence on Staniforth Road, in the Darnall area of Sheffield, on October 31 last year.

The boy, who has not been named, was held for six hours.

He was hooded with a makeshift balaclava and threats were made to his father that the boy would have his arms, legs and head cut off if he did not pay a £40,000 ransom.

After the kidnap was reported to police, the boy was dumped in countryside at Ringinglow, on the edge of the Peak District.

Police said Miah and Mohammed were caught using DNA evidence and telephone call data.

During the trial, both defendants tried to claim the kidnap was a staged scam which the boy was in on.

Miah, from Flaxby Road, Darnall, Sheffield, and Mohammed, from Balfour Drive, also in Darnall, were found guilty following a month-long trial which finished yesterday.

Miah was given 17 years for kidnap and 15 years for blackmail.

Mohammed was sentenced to 11 years for kidnap and 10 years for blackmail.

The sentences will run concurrently.

Two other men on trial were found not guilty of the same charges.

Detective Chief Inspector Zaf Ali, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "This was a difficult, protracted investigation.

"These men committed serious crimes, they put a young boy and his family through a terrifying ordeal and he feared for his life.

"Miah and Mohammed continued with their story and showed no remorse throughout the investigation and subsequent trial."

PA