Teenagers jailed 23 years for kidnap and torture

Two teenage kidnappers who drugged and tortured a businessman were jailed for a total of 23 years yesterday.

Two teenage kidnappers who drugged and tortured a businessman were jailed for a total of 23 years yesterday.

The Albanian illegal immigrants snatched Arap Mytaj, 54, as he walked home from his car wash business in Romford, Essex, in April this year.

They tied him to a tree for two nights and forced his family to listen to his cries of pain as they phoned repeated demands for a £50,000 ransom.

Southwark Crown Court in London heard they threatened to behead Mr Mytaj if the police were called. But officers tracked them down to Epping Forest and arrested them as they tried to collect the ransom.

Adriatik Malaj, 18, of no fixed address, and Shpetin Lisha, 19, of Seven Kings, were convicted earlier of kidnapping, false imprisonment, blackmail and causing actual bodily harm. Judge Loraine-Smith jailed them for 13 and 10 years respectively.