Gang robbed restaurant owner of £7,500 in terrifying kidnap ordeal

robbers-kidnapped-ashfield-restaurant-owners
Clockwise, from top left: Rohan Blake, Jayquon Kenton, Ashley Walker, and Nathaniel Simpson.

Five Nottinghamshire men who kidnapped, beat and robbed a restaurant owner before attempting to blackmail his father have been jailed.

A four-man team carefully planned the attack, even using a tracking device on their victim’s van to find his home address in the days beforehand.

His nightmare began one evening in May 2015 when the gang pounced on the man has he locked up his restaurant in Ashfield.

They bundled him into his own van and drove him to Bestwood Country Park, punching him, kicking him and cutting him with a knife.

They then forced him to call his father tell him to leave cash and jewellery outside the front of his Sheffield home. The men then let the victim go, leaving him bleeding and terrified in woodland. They had stolen just over £1,500 in cash, along with jewellery worth around £6,000.

His father called police and the gang were eventually tracked down by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

They were all sentenced on Friday 23 September 2016 at Nottingham Crown Court to a total of 29 years imprisonment.

Police discovered Rohan Blake and Nathaniel Simpson had bought a tracking device from a shop in Birmingham. Detectives then went on to identiy Ashley Walker, Curtis Matthews and Jayquon Kenton as being part of the crime.

On Friday they were handed the following prison sentences;

  • Rohan Blake, 36, formerly of Park Road in Bestwood Village, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to blackmail: Nine years.
  • Nathaniel Simpson, 30, formerly of Stoneycroft Road in Old Basford, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to commit blackmail: Eight years.
  • Jayquon Kenton, 23, formerly of Constance Street, New Basford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery having previously pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply: Five years and ten months.
  • Ashley Walker, 25, formerly of Highway Grove in Clifton, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit blackmail and possession of crack cocaine with intent supply, after the Class A drug was found during a search of his home: Four-and-a-half years.
  • Curtis Matthews, 23, formerly of Dungannon Road in Clifton, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit blackmail: One year and eight months.

Detective Inspector Richard Bull, who led the investigation, said: “The victim endured a terrifying ordeal, which included a sustained physical assault and the fear that family members would be harmed. In fact he, his father and other relatives are still trying to come to terms with what happened and live in constant fear of it happening again.

“The offenders’ extensive planning meant our detectives were able to piece together a complete jigsaw of evidence clearly linking Blake and Simpson to the purchase of the tracking device and then to its use in readiness for the kidnapping.

“CCTV footage and phone analysis were essential in detecting this crime, underlining both the value that technology has in policing today and the skills required of detectives and investigators.”

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