Two youths have avoided a prison sentence after they abducted, attacked and humiliated a man before demanding a ransom from his terrified mum.
Jack Airens and Chase Johnstone, both 20, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where they admitted abducting the man over money they believed he owned them.
The pair, along with another man, snatched the man from Peterhead and took him to an address in Aberdeen, where they placed him on a chair and beat him before shaving off half his hair.
Airens and Johnstone, then 18 and 19 respectively, called the man’s mum and demanded she transfer money in exchange for her son’s safe return, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Sheriff Ian Wallace told the pair that they had put their victim through a “terrifying ordeal”.
Victim was set upon
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin said during the early evening of April 25 2023, Airens, Johnstone and another man received a lift from an acquaintance from Aberdeen to Peterhead where they went looking for someone in the town’s Wetherspoons pub.
Locating their victim, they followed him to Princes Street where two masked men attacked him, punching and kicking him until he fell to the ground.
CCTV footage showed three males, including Airens and Johnstone, then walking the man through the town centre where they met the driver who took them there.
They put the man in the back seat and held him there until they reached an address in Seaton.
He was in a state of fear and alarm throughout the journey, the fiscal depute said.
Arriving at a block of flats, the man was taken into a second-floor flat and into the living room where he was told to sit on a dining chair.
Johnstone began to repeatedly ask him where the money was and when he replied he didn’t know he was punched to the side of the head on a number of occasions.
They then instructed him to call his mum using Snapchat.
Mum receives call from terrified son
At 8.18pm, the victim’s mother was at home when she received a Snapchat message from her son asking her urgently for £1500.
“When she responded saying she didn’t have money, she received a call from the complainer,” Ms Martin said.
“She answered and heard her son in a state of fear, begging her for the lesser sum of £500.
“As this was ongoing, she heard male English accents in the background shouting: ‘It needs paid or he’s getting hurt’.
“The victim heard all three males shouting and noted they were putting on Manchester accents.
“The woman advised she would make efforts to obtain the money from her son’s father, however, she contacted the police instead and reported the circumstances.
“Whilst waiting for the money to be transferred to them, one of the accused began hitting the complainer on the head with a roll of tin foil.
“The complainer was then instructed to phone his mum again whereby Airens took his phone and told the mother the money had to be paid or her son would be seriously hurt.”
Shaved victim’s head
They then sat the man on a couch where Johnstone used an electric shaver to shave off one half of his victim’s hair.
This was filmed and later uploaded to Snapchat.
Airens and Johnstone then instructed the man to remove his Canada Goose jacket, which they did not return.
The victim’s mum rang back and advised her son’s captors that she had contacted police.
Soon after, Airens and Johnstone called a taxi and let their victim out at the Haudagain Roundabout, where he went to a Taco Bell and called his mother.
He was located by police and taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he was found to have bruising to his face and body, a cut to his lip, scratches on his back and a laceration on his head.
Police attended and forced entry to a property to retain evidence and found no one inside but they did see a set of clippers plugged in near the wall next to a sofa.
As they exited the block, they saw Airens walking towards them and, upon stopping him, saw bloodstaining on his clothes.
In the dock, Airens and Johnstone pleaded guilty to one count of abduction and robbery.
‘Things got out of hand’
Defence solicitor for Airens, Christopher Maitland, told the court that his client had “accepted full responsibility” but added that his involvement “wasn’t as significant” as others.
“But he did involve himself in the whole thing, he is sorry and ashamed of his actions,” he said, adding: “He deeply regrets involving himself in what is a serious matter.”
Alex Burn, defence lawyer for Johnstone, said he also “accepted full responsibility” for what happened.
He claimed that the victim owned his client money and when Johnstone saw him on social media out at the pub he confronted him about his debt.
“Things went on from there and resulted in him acting in a reckless and stupid fashion – things got out of hand,” Mr Burn said.
Sheriff Wallace told Airens and Johnstone that they had subjected their victim to a “terrifying ordeal”.
“A custodial sentence would be justified for both of you,” he said.
However, he added that these offences were carried out when they were both teenagers and were “characterised by immaturity”.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Wallace made Airens, of Seaton Road, Aberdeen, and Johnstone, of Wisely Wynd, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order with supervision and ordered them to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work each.
The sheriff also made the pair subject to a restriction of liberty order for a year.
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