Loan shark car boot kidnap like Sopranos - court

Richard Dawson

A "vicious loan shark" kidnapped one of his victims by forcing him into the boot of a car and driving him to a cashpoint to withdraw money, a court heard.

Richard Dawson, 35, from Barnsley, received £52,000 in repayments from 88 customers he had illegally lent money.

He was jailed for seven years at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday after admitting kidnap, grievous bodily harm and illegal moneylending.

Sean Fritchley, mitigating, said Dawson's actions sounded like "something from The Sopranos" but that his client was "ashamed".

Two victims went to the police about Dawson after they became trapped in a "cycle of debt" with him.

On one occasion a male victim had his jaw broken by Dawson, as he was unable to make a repayment.

Prosecutor Simon Mortimer told the court how the victim had been forced into a car boot and driven to an ATM.

"This became common practice," he added.

In initial police interviews, the victim would not speak out against Dawson as he was "fearful for his life".

CCTV released of the kidnapping

Mr Fritchley, for father-of-three Dawson, said his client was "thoroughly ashamed of his actions".

"He will do his time in a decent manner.

"He wants to get his head down and get back to his children."

The barrister said the kidnapping "sounds like something from The Sopranos", the 1990s TV show based on an Italian-American mafia head based in New Jersey.

He added: "We accept it was a kidnap.

"He would tell him to get into the boot and he did so out of fear."

However, the kidnappings were "short-lived" and did not include asking for funds for his release, Mr Fritchley said.

"It was more like a humiliation than anything else," he added.

'Ruthless and cruel'

The court was told bank accounts associated with Dawson, of Hill End Close, Barnsley, received more than £50,000 in payments.

However, judge Mr Recorder Langdale said: "Those paying money into bank accounts were in the minority.

"The true cash profit will never be known."

Following the sentencing, Tony Quigley, head of the England Illegal Money Lending Team at Stop Loan Sharks, said: “This man is a ruthless and cruel individual who deliberately targeted the most vulnerable people in the community, taking everything they had and leaving them with nothing.

"He knew they couldn’t fight back and took advantage of that."