Five men have been sentenced to a combined total of nearly 40 years in prison for an 'honor' kidnapping and torture incident in Telford, Shropshire. The 21-year-old victim was bundled into the boot of a car and held in a shipping container after he started a relationship with the sister of two of the perpetrators.
Shayyan Hussain, 24, Faheem Chohan, 23, and Ehteshan Hussain, 22, received seven-and-a-half-year sentences, while Jawad Hussain, 21, was sentenced to seven years. All four pleaded guilty to kidnap at Shrewsbury Crown Court. Haider Ali, 22, was also sentenced to seven years after a jury found him guilty of kidnap. He arrived at the scene in a second vehicle and helped transport some of the gang members away.
Judge Trevor Meegan described the kidnapping as being driven by family 'honor' and noted that it involved significant planning, not an impulsive act. He stated that the Hussain brothers played a leading operational role in the planning, while Chohan and Jawad Hussain willingly participated in the abduction and assault. The judge characterized the offense as a "deeply troubling offense of abduction and abuse of a young man to terrify and degrade him."
According to prosecutor Jack Guise, the motive for the kidnapping stemmed from the victim's relationship with the sister of the Hussain brothers. The victim and defendants were not strangers; their families originated from the same village in Pakistan, and they had shared holidays and family meals. However, the relationship soured when the victim began messaging the sister of the Hussain brothers, a relationship that the attackers' families did not approve of.
Prior to the kidnapping, the victim had experienced incidents of cars driving past his home and being followed on the motorway, attempts to warn him off the relationship. On one occasion, a defendant confronted the victim with a baseball bat.
On December 29, masked men entered the victim's home, forcing him into the boot of a black Audi A4. CCTV footage showed the victim's mother attempting to intervene and being pushed to the ground. The vehicle drove off with the victim's legs hanging out of the boot before stopping to close the door.
The victim was taken to a hired shipping container where he was tied to a chair, stripped, and beaten. The attackers also recorded videos of the assaults and made the victim apologize on camera to their father. Haider Ali arrived at the storage container approximately 20 minutes later. The Audi used in the kidnapping was later abandoned and found, leading police to Ali.
A video of the victim being tortured was sent to Ali's phone while he was in police custody, which helped officers identify the other four kidnappers. The gang returned to the unit and moved the victim to a car, driving towards north Shropshire. The victim managed to escape by locking himself in the Audi when the gang left the vehicle unattended and drove to safety.
He was treated in hospital for facial injuries, including a fractured eye socket, rib injuries, and bruising. In a victim impact statement, the young man stated the kidnap had changed his life and he now "rarely leaves the house."
Detective Chief Inspector Lee Holehouse commented that the victim endured a "horrifying ordeal" and that the actions of the men were "cruel and calculated." He commended the victim's courage and resilience throughout the investigation.