Kidnappers from Northampton sentenced to four years in prison each after holding a 16-year-old hostage over demands for £1,000

Two kidnappers from Northampton have been sentenced to four years in prison after taking a 16-year-old hostage and threatening him with death, while demanding £1,000 from another man.

Gary Burgess, of Farmclose Road, and Adam Molloy, of Woodlands, Grange Park, were sentenced on Wednesday (December 22) at Northampton Crown Court for kidnapping a teenager after repeatedly demanding money via blackmail from another man between July and September 2019.

The kidnapping took place on Keepers Close, Northampton on September 21 that year. Burgess was 19 and Molloy 18 at the time.

It saw the now 21-year-old and 20-year-old offenders, joined by a third unknown accomplice, hide their faces with masks before snatching the 16-year-old at a party, away from which they held him at knife point for around 90 minutes.

Messages were then sent to the other man, who the offenders had been threatening since July for £500 he 'owed'. The kidnappers raised this to £1,000 as they threatened the teenager with a pocket knife, the court heard.

The offenders threatened to smash the victim's knee with a brick 'just for kicks' and threatened to 'slit his throat'. The third kidnapper held the knife to the victim's throat saying 'Should I do it? Should I do it?'

The victim described in a statement how he was 'more afraid than he had ever been before' and that the offence was 'the worst experience' of his life.

Despite his own fear that the victim would be harmed if police were involved, it was said the man worried about the impact on the victim's mother if he were harmed, and decided to call for help.

The recorder addressed each offender and said: "Mr Burgess, you have said that you were afraid when the knife was produced. But I am sure that the victim's fear was far greater.

"You regrettably lost your father after 18 months of ill-health and left your job in Cambridge to come home and support your mother.

"What possessed you to throw all this good work away, by getting involved in something as serious as this, I have no idea. I propose even you may not really know."

The recorder also addressed Malloy, who had been helping care for several siblings with various difficulties, including one with a rare condition.

This had led to a 'late' diagnosis of ADHD in the offender, although this was rejected as a mitigating factor because he had previously said he was 'happy' with medication he was given.

The recorded said: "There are significant matters of personal mitigation that reduce the starting point.

"The first is your age. You were 18 and 19 at the time and despite being arrested after the offence, it did not go to trial for two years. You were on bail during this time and did not reoffend. That goes to your character.

"All substantially mitigate the sentence I would impose if you were mature adults.

"Your conduct since that time in 2019 leads me to believe lessons have been learned and that a level of maturity has started to settle in.

"While the offence of kidnap and blackmail must always be taken seriously and imposed with a custodial sentence to act as deterrents, I believe your offence falls on the less severe end of the scale."

Burgess was sentenced to two terms of four years imprisonment to be served concurrently, while Molloy, due to his age, will serve the same in a young offenders' institute.