Luton gang of six jailed for gunpoint kidnap
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From top left - Jalil Uddin, Mitchell Malik, Muhammed Hussain; from bottom left - Saqib Rehman, Mohammed Yousaf
Six men who kidnapped a man at gunpoint before torturing him for 30 hours have been jailed.
The gang "bullied" the 20-year-old into the back of a van before threatening him with a shotgun, beating his knees with a mallet and stunning him with a Taser-style weapon.
Luton Crown Court heard the gang took him captive as revenge for the apparent theft of cannabis worth £60,000.
The gang admitted a range of offences and received sentences up to 20 years.
The court heard the kidnap took place in Luton on 20 June last year.
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They bundled the man into the van in Downs Road before driving to an address in Ashburnham Road.
During his imprisonment, the gang put a live shotgun in his mouth, stubbed out cigarettes on his arm and beat him with a knife.
Ransom calls were made to the victim's relatives, and one defendant also threatened to rape him.
The victim was tied to a metal gate and abandoned
A gun was used to kidnap the victim
The following morning, the victim was abandoned and left tied to the metal gate of a farm near Kensworth. He freed himself and made his way home.
The court heard the gang believed two brothers had stolen cannabis from them, and targeted the victim - the boyfriend of the two brothers' sister.
Mohammed Yousaf, 22, of Lyndhurst Road, Luton, pleaded guilty to kidnap, false imprisonment and blackmail. He was sentenced to 12 years.
Muhammed Hussain, 25, of Belmont Road, Luton, pleaded guilty to kidnap, false imprisonment, blackmail and a firearms offence. He was sentenced to 20 years.
Saqib Rehman, 20, of Belmont Road, Luton, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment. He was sentenced to three and a half years.
Jalil Uddin,40, of Chatsworth Road, Luton, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment. He was sentenced to eight years and three months.
Mitchell Malik, 21, of Hillside Road, Dudley, was found guilty of false imprisonment, blackmail, and a firearms offence, but was found not guilty of kidnap. He was jailed for 15 years.
A 17-year-old boy from Luton, who cannot be named due to his age, pleaded guilty to kidnap, false imprisonment and blackmail. He was jailed for five years.