Kidnappers made man film naked ransom videos

An ex-soldier who was part of a gang which kidnapped and beat a man before making him film naked ransom videos has been jailed for four years.

Mark Pearce, 53, and others took the victim to a caravan in a field owned by Pearce near Stockton for the hours-long ordeal in April 2024, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The kidnappers had disguised themselves as delivery drivers and bundled the man into a van outside his home, the court heard.

Pearce, from Stockton, had denied wrongdoing but was found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap along with Donald Hammond, 43 from London, who was jailed for six years at an earlier hearing.

The victim was confronted by three men in high-vis jackets outside his home and shoved into the back of a van on 13 April 2024, prosecutor Oliver Connor said.

The men were wearing their jackets to make them look like delivery drivers, the court heard.

The victim was taken to a caravan in a field where he was bound with tape and cable ties and blindfolded.

The gang repeatedly physically attacked him before stripping him naked and forcing him to film a video asking a relative for money, the court heard.

The video had to be filmed several times as the kidnappers were not happy with the finished product, Connor said.

The man's ordeal only came to an end when he had been left alone for a while and wriggled free from his bindings, the court heard.

He fled across a field and reached the A19 where motorists stopped to help him.

The court heard Pearce had 27 offences on his criminal record including for repeatedly harassing his ex-partner in 2022 and 2023, the court heard.

In mitigation, Sophie Johnston said Pearce did not play a "hands on role" with the kidnap as he did not match the physical descriptions of the men who put the victim in the van or have the "Top Boy-style southern accents" of those in the caravan.

The court heard the father of nine completed three tours of Northern Ireland in the 1990s for the Army, where he boxed for his regiment, and until recently ran a scaffolding and landscaping business.

Judge Aisha Wadoodi said while it could not be proved who did what during the kidnapping, Pearce was actively involved.

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