Two men have appeared in court accused of assaulting and abducting a prisoner at HMP Grampian – and demanding his mum stump up £5,000.
Mark Hendry, 24, and Colin Lindsay, 25, are accused of assaulting and abducting a prisoner, using cable ties to bind his hands, and detaining him against his will.
The pair are also alleged to have phoned the man’s mother and tried to blackmail her into paying £5,000 so they would not harm him.
Both men are charged with assaulting the complainer by repeatedly punching him on the head and body, pinning him to a bed, threatening him, demanding money, grabbing him by the neck.
The charge also alleges they abducted him by binding his hands with cable ties and detaining him against his will.
They are both also accused of attempted extortion by threatening the man’s mother that unless she transferred £5,000 to a specified bank account, they would inflict harm upon her son.
Lindsay faces a third charge of having a mobile phone in prison without a reasonable excuse.
Both accused deny the charges against them – said to have happened January 29 at HMP Grampian – when the case called at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Philip Mann fixed a further pre-trial hearing in respect of Hendry, of HMP Grampian, and Lindsay, of HMP Edinburgh, for later this year.