Mark Pearce has been sentenced to four years in prison for his part in a kidnapping case where the victim was forced to film ransom videos. The court heard that the gang repeatedly physically assaulted the man before stripping him naked and compelling him to record pleas for money directed at a relative.
The filming of the ransom video was reportedly required to be done multiple times due to the kidnappers' dissatisfaction with the final product. The victim's ordeal concluded when he managed to escape his bindings during a period of being left alone. He then fled across a field and reached the A19, where motorists provided assistance.
Pearce has a criminal record that includes 27 previous offenses, notably for repeated harassment of his ex-partner in 2022 and 2023. In his defense, his legal representative stated that Pearce did not have a direct physical role in the kidnapping, pointing to his lack of resemblance to the descriptions of the men who put the victim in the van and noting he did not possess the distinct accents attributed to those involved. However, the judge ruled that while it could not be definitively proven who committed each specific act during the kidnapping, Pearce was actively involved.
Pearce previously served three tours of Northern Ireland with the Army in the 1990s and managed a scaffolding and landscaping business until recently. He is a father of nine.