Sheffield gang ‘threatened to decapitate boy, 14,’ over ransom demand

The terrified youngster was snatched outside an off-licence, dragged into a car, and driven to a rural village.

Sheffield Crown Court heard the teenager had a hood placed over his head, and was forced to make phone calls to his father and mother relaying his abductors’ ransom demands.

Four men - Abdal Miah, 29, Liban Mohammed, 20, Anjam Shaffique, 30, and Carlos Treazure, 27 - are on trial accused of kidnapping the schoolboy.

Alistair MacDonald QC, prosecuting, said the youngster was talking to friends outside Bir’s Beers on Staniforth Road, when he was snatched at around 4pm on October 31 last year.

He said a man approached him and asked whether he was responsible for smashing up his Vauxhall Astra car.

“The man gripped the boy’s wrist and tried to drag him away,” Mr MacDonald said.

Jurors heard that another kidnapper arrived when the boy resisted, and they both dragged him behind the off-licence and threw him into the back of a waiting car.

“His head was held down and a hood was placed over his head,” Mr MacDonald said, adding four men were in the car.

He said the teenager’s father rang his son’s phone and one of the kidnappers answered.

They said they wanted 40 ‘bags’ - slang for thousands of pounds - or ‘his son was coming back in pieces’.

When the boy’s parents failed to raise the money, the amount was dropped to £2,000, jurors heard.

“There was even a threat to chop the boy’s head off,” Mr MacDonald said.

The schoolboy was released at around midnight, and ran to a farmhouse in Ringinglow, where resident Angela Batty helped him to call the police.

Mr MacDonald said the alleged kidnappers were traced using DNA evidence and telephone call data.

“Only the kidnappers know why they released him,” he said.

The four deny kidnapping and blackmail.

The trial continues.