A growing number of people are falling victim to kidnappings. The latest Home Office figures show there were a total of 6,756 kidnappings recorded by police forces in England and Wales last year, up by 20% from 5,618 kidnappings in 2020. That is also the highest seen in the last decade and more than quadruple the 1,525 recorded in 2011.
It comes as a fictional kidnapping has been played out onscreen in the long-running soap Coronation Street. Fans of the show have recently been following the troubles of Kelly Neelan - played by Millie Gibson - who was abducted by her criminal dad’s old acquaintances in a bid to get a £50,000 ransom.
Kidnapping is defined as taking someone away by force or fraud and then keeping them illegally imprisoned without their consent. It can include adult and child victims. It might involve enticing a partner to a house and refusing to let them leave, a parent taking and keeping a child without the consent of their legal guardian, or the planned kidnap of someone for ransom or political purposes.
