A robbing duo kidnapped an assistant headteacher who was delivering newspapers and forced him to drive around looking for drugs.
Ryan Patton, 21, and Demi Foster, 30, kidnapped the victim and made him drive them around County Durham on a quest to find drugs in the early hours of August 18 this year. The terrified victim was punched numerous times and forced to withdraw £300 from a cash machine during the ordeal which lasted almost two hours. When finally arrested, Patton went on to spit in the face of a police officer and told him he had hepatitis B.
On Monday, Patton, of HMP Durham, and Foster, of The Green, Witton Park, Durham, appeared at Durham Crown Court via links to be jointly sentenced for kidnap and robbery. Patton was also sentenced for assaulting an emergency worker, with Foster being sentenced for summary offences of driving without a licence or insurance. They had both pleaded guilty to the charges.
