FOUR men have been jailed for a total of more than 40 years for incidents of kidnap in Reading.
At a hearing at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, December 12, Erlind Demiraj, aged 32 and of Orts Road, Reading, was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
He was found guilty of one count each of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail on August 24 this year, and pleaded guilty to one count of perverting the course of justice at the same court in February.
Garcon Lala, aged 28 and of Haringey, London, was also sentenced at the same hearing to 12 years’ imprisonment.
He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Gevin Pasha, aged 22 and of Gray Street, Northampton, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
He who was found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on August 24 this year.
Klej Doci, aged 20 and of St Margaret’s Road, St Leonards-on-Sea,was sentenced to five years in prison. He was found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and one count of conspiracy to kidnap on 24 August this year.
He was found not guilty of one count of conspiracy to blackmail and common assault.
A further person, Gentjan Kica, aged 34 and of Glenrosa Road, Reading, was found not guilty of a count of conspiracy to blackmail.
It follows an investigation by Thames Valley Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) into an incident in December 2021.
At around 6.30pm on Sunday, December 8, that year, two men in their twenties were kidnapped from a car park in Maiden Place, Lower Earley, by Lala, Doci, and Pasha.
The two victims had their phones taken from them and were then driven to Northampton in two separate vehicles.
They were held captive in a bedsit in Hunter Street, Northampton, for five days, until on Friday, December 13, 2021, specialist armed police officers located the victims.
When officers entered the property, they detained Pasha, who attempted to attack them with a pole.
Pasha was subsequently detained, and the victims recovered and freed.
One of the victims had injuries consistent with cigarette burns to his hands and had cuts and bruising to his head and body.
He reported being attacked with weapons on multiple occasions as well as being deprived of food.
During their false imprisonment, Demiraj had been making ransom demands to their families.
Demiraj, who was described as the ringleader of the group, had also blackmailed one of the victims for money prior to the event.
He and his associates used threats of violence against the victim and the victim’s parents, including visiting the family home and threatening to burn it down, over an alleged debt.
Despite attempts by the victim to pay, the debt continued to increase, resulting in the kidnapping.
Pasha was charged on December 14, 2021, followed by Doci the following day, and Lala on December 16.
Charges against Demiraj were authories by the Crown Prosecution Service on September 28 last year, but he was no longer residing in the UK.
International law enforcement worked with the National Crime Agency and the SOCU in conducting an international manhunt operation, and Dutch authorities arrested him while he attempted to cross from Belgium into the Netherlands on November 4 last year.
He was subsequently extradited back to the UK to stand trial.
Kica was charged via postal requisition on October 6 last year.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Helen Gilbert, of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “These four dangerous men will now face a significant period in prison to reflect on their criminal actions in this unacceptable incident.
“Thames Valley Police will never tolerate this sort of offending and this case shows that we will work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice.
“My thanks go to our colleagues at Northamptonshire Police for their support in rescuing the victims, as well as the National Crime Agency and our international law enforcement partners for detaining Erlind Demiraj in the Netherlands.”
{{{gallery:”138553,138554,138555″}}}
