Two men found guilty of kidnapping a man to repay a drugs debt in Warwickshire

Ammonia was also thrown over the victim.

Author: Ben CartwrightPublished 7th Dec 2023

Two men have been found guilty of kidnapping and beating up a man over a drugs debt.

In 2020 Aseel Alshamrani and Adoulali Boutafala were working for a drugs line known as the ‘Rex line.’

The victim – then is his late teens and now in his early 20s – had been exploited to deal drugs on behalf of the ‘Rex line’ and quickly fell into debt.

Alshamrani and Boutafala made threats towards the victim and his family before driving to his home around midnight on 23 June 2020.

When they arrived, he initially tried to settle his debt but was threatened and made to get into a car.

The pair took him to a sports field on the outskirts of Leamington where they assaulted him and made him remove his clothes by threatening to throw ammonia over him.

They returned to Coventry and the victim, who had been left in the park, walked into Leamington to report the incident to police.

After further investigation Alshamrani and Boutafala were arrested in Coventry city centre and subsequently charged in relation to the incident.

Alshamrani, 20, of Furlong Road, Coventry, was charged with kidnap, assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon.

Aseel Alshamrani

Boutafala, 24, formerly of Prince of Wales Close, London, (pictured below) was charged with kidnap, assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), and two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.

Adoulali Boutafala

The duo had denied any wrongdoing throughout but after a two-week trial at Warwick Crown Court, on Friday (1 December) they were found guilty on all counts by the jury.

They will be sentenced at the same court on 19 January.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.