Four teenagers jailed for kidnapping of man in Portsmouth
The victim was driven to woodland and threatened with weapons
Four teenagers have been jailed for nearly 14 years combined after an 18-year-old man was Tasered and kidnapped in Portsmouth.
The victim had been walking on Hartley Road in Hilsea in the early hours of January 11th when four people wearing balaclavas stopped him and bundled him into the back of the small white car they were in.
Hampshire Police said he was blindfolded, assaulted with a taser and then driven to woodland in Denmead where he was tied to a tree and a gun and knife were held to his head.
The people that had assaulted and threatened him then left and the victim was able to free himself and sought help.
Officers focused their investigation on a text message sent to the victim’s family from a number that was linked to a seventeen year-old boy from Portsmouth.
An image of the victim had also been posted to social media and this had been reported to our colleagues at Sussex Police who established that two of the people also seen in the picture were two fifteen year-old boys from West Sussex.
Officers searched the home of one of the boys, finding a knuckleduster and clothing of interest to our investigation. The other fifteen year-old boy’s phone was also identified as being in the Denmead area at the time of the offence.
At 9:00pm on January 12th officers stopped a white Ford Fiesta matching the description of the vehicle involved on Milton Road and the driver, a seventeen year-old boy, was arrested and his phone was seized.
This phone revealed regular contact with Jake Guinelly, who was eighteen years old at the time, that corresponded with the timings of the offence.
Items including a machete, an axe, and cannabis were subsequently seized from Guinelly’s address at Suffolk Road in Southsea.
Guinelly, who is now 19, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison at Portsmouth Crown Court on Monday after admitting to kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The three other boys, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, were sentenced at the same court on September 20th.
The seventeen year-old boy admitted kidnap, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and dangerous driving and was given a three year and eight month sentence.
One of the fifteen year-old boys from West Sussex admitted kidnap, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of a knife, and possession of a knuckleduster. The now 16-year-old was jailed for two years and eight months.
The other fifteen year-old boy from West Sussex was found guilty of kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm and will spend four years behind bars.
Detective Constable Amy Thatcher from Hampshire Police's Eastern Area Investigations Team said:
"This was an incredibly traumatic event for the eighteen year-old that these four teenagers targeted. I’m pleased that we were able to safeguard the victim and that our enquiries have led to this court result.
"These sentences send a clear message that this kind of serious violence is not tolerated in Portsmouth, or anywhere in Hampshire & on the Isle of Wight.
"I hope that this court result helps the man who was targeted to move on with his life in the knowledge that his attackers are now serving significant sentences.
"This was a complex investigation that required detailed digital and forensic examinations in order to identify those involved and their movements. I’d like to thank all those officers involved, including our colleagues in Sussex, who have helped us to secure these court results".