A group of thugs who kidnapped a man and left him outside a luxury hotel in County Durham have been jailed for a total of 32 years.
Abdul Rostami and Nielas Straksys entered guilty pleas to charges of robbery and kidnap almost three weeks into their trial at Newcastle Crown Court – just weeks after their associates Laurynas Stakauskis and Kurdo Salih, were found unanimously guilty by a jury at the same court.
The jury heard how the quartet had tried to carefully coordinate a pre-planned attack, travelling from Ipswich to Gateshead to settle a debt over counterfeit cigarettes. As part of the sinister plot, the men followed their victim as he walked to work on the morning of July 3 last year – unaware of what was about to happen when a white van pulled up alongside him.
