Connor Price, 28, was bundled into a car and suffered multiple stab wounds before his dad launched an escape plan – the three kidnappers have now been jailed
A man was subjected to a horrifying kidnap ordeal which saw him tied up, blindfolded, bundled into a car and then stabbed multiple times.
A court heard how Connor Price, 28, suffered a nightmare kidnapping before his father hatched a rescue plan which saw him ram the kidnappers’ car with his vehicle, allowing Mr Price, 28, to escape through a car window.
Tyshane Brown, 30, Luke Williams, 19, and George Miles-Williams, 24, were involved in the plot to grab Mr Price from Cyfarthfa Retail Park in Merthyr Tydfil on February 10, and demanded £5,000 from his girlfriend.
Mr Price suffered multiple stab wounds and collapsed after escaping, believing he had been shot in the leg, a court was told. A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard how Williams contacted Mr Price, an acquaintance, and asked to meet him at Cyfartha Retail Park.
The defendants travelled down to Merthyr Tydfil from Hereford with another man, Ruben Ritchiem, who the defendants coerced by threatening him with a gun. The car stopped on the way and Brown got out to rummage through the bushes. He got back into the car carrying a large bag.
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When Mr Price arrived he got out of his car but left the engine running and his girlfriend remained in the passenger seat. He went over to the vehicle with the defendants inside and was pulled into the car.
Brown was in possession of a knife and used it to poke Mr Price in the back and abdomen. The victim’s girlfriend shouted “what’s going on”, and he told her “they’ve got knives and guns”.
The victim made an attempt to escape but he was dragged back in by Williams, and after Brown got back in the Hyundai they drove off at speed. His girlfriend tried to follow in the other car but she lost sight of them, Wales Online reports.
Mr Price was put in a headlock by Williams before being repeatedly stabbed in the stomach and back, the Recorder of Cardiff Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said.
Both Williams and Brown were demanding money for a bike on Facebook. They struck Mr Price in the face with the butt of a gun and stabbed in the stomach. Mr Price then saw Brown place a gold bullet in the gun. He told the victim: “Keep that up and we’ll shoot you.”
Miles-Williams was in the passenger seat and laughing as Mr Price told his attackers he didn’t have any money. Brown then contacted Mr Price’s girlfriend and told her: “Darling, if you know what’s best for you, don’t ring the police or he’ll be dead.”
In the background, she could hear Mr Price being hurt and said he was being cut. The defendants demanded £5,000 in return for Mr Price’s “release and safety”. The girlfriend called Mr Price’s father Jordan Price and told him what had happened. He told her to arrange to meet the kidnappers at Cyfarthfa retail park for a drop off.
The plan was for Mr Price’s girlfriend to drop a coat out of the car, so the defendants would believe she had dropped off a bag of cash, while Jordan Price and his friends would lay in wait in the car park and shut the barriers to prevent the defendants from leaving.
At 9.37pm, Mr Price’s girlfriend parked up at Cyfarthfa Retail Park and the defendants arrived a minute later. She dropped the false ransom and drove out of the car park as Miles-Williams got out of the car and went to pick up the coat.
Upon realising he had been duped, Miles-Williams attempted to run back to the Hyundai as Jordan Price and his friends put the barrier down at the exit and placed a large bin in the road. They attempted to open the doors of the Hyundai, but the car drove off with one man holding on to a door handle. Brown and Williams managed to escape, with Mr Price still in the car.
The victim made another attempt to escape and was hanging out of a car window, as Brown stabbed him in the left hand with the blade passing through. Jordan Price got into the Astra and drove after his son’s kidnappers. When he caught up with them, he rammed the Hyundai twice.
Mr Price got out of the vehicle and collapsed as his father picked him up and drove him to hospital. He feared he would bleed to death. The victim suffered wounds to the bridge of his nose, the right side of his face, superficial wounds to his abdomen, his back, his groin and deep wounds to his left thigh and right knee.
He needed surgery after a tendon in his finger was severed. The defendants abandoned their car and fled, calling Williams’ sister to pick them up. Miles-Williams was arrested on February 18 and in the following days, Brown and Williams set their phones to factory mode. They were both arrested on February 27 at a caravan site in Kidderminster.
Brown, of Grange Road, Weymouth, Williams, of Ty Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil, and Miles-Williams, of Goldrill, Clifford, Hereford, were later found guilty of attempted murder, kidnapping, blackmail, wounding with intent, possession of an imitation firearm and possession of a blade.
Sentencing, Judge Lloyd-Clarke described Brown as the “leader and drive force” of the offences, and said Williams played a “significant role” and Miles-Williams a “secondary role”.
Brown was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment with an extended licence period of three years. Williams was sentenced to 25 years detention in a young offenders institute, with an extended licence period of two years. Miles-Williams was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.