Man jailed over botched kidnap of lover's husband

Daniel Algar tried to kidnap his girlfriend's husband

A man who attempted to kidnap his lover's husband in a botched hijack has been jailed for three and a half years.

Daniel Algar, 41, wore a mask and hid in Garry Leggate's car as he waited for his victim to leave work ahead of the failed plot near Boston, Lincolnshire.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Algar was in a relationship with Mr Leggate's wife, Lucy, when the failed abduction took place in September 2022.

Algar, of Second Avenue, Spalding, was found guilty of attempted kidnap after a trial in July.

The court heard police were called to the incident on the A52 shortly after 22:00 BST on 22 September.

Jurors heard Mr Leggate had driven away from work at the nearby Reflex Labels printers in Swineshead without realising Algar was hiding in the back of his car.

A witness described how the car stopped suddenly on the wrong side of the road before Mr Leggate and a man wearing a mask both got out.

The masked man "appeared to run after" Mr Leggate before changing direction.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Leggate described how he was "petrified" during the attempted kidnap.

"This was like something out of a movie – not something you expect when you are driving home from work," he said.

Mr Leggate explained he met Algar through tenpin bowling. They became friends, but he later discovered Algar was having an affair with his wife.

He said he would never know what Algar had intended to do to him but said it must have involved harm.

Chris Jeyes, for Algar, said his client was a hardworking man and he had not hatched the most sophisticated plan.

"Once it didn't go to plan in the car there was little thought to what [to do] next, and there was no weapon," Mr Jeyes told the court.

Prosecutors had alleged Mrs Leggate, 36, of Fishtoft, near Boston, had helped in the planning by providing Algar with a spare key for her husband's car and disclosing his movements.

The mother-of-four chose not to give evidence during her trial alongside Algar, and the jury found her not guilty of attempted kidnap.

Passing sentence, Judge James House KC said Algar's crime had been "well planned" but with some amateurish features.

"It was premeditated, planned, organised but with some elements of amateurism such as still wearing some of the same clothes when he was arrested the next day," Judge House said.

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