Kidnappers Toby Collens and Brodie Smith have been jailed
Toby Collens, left, and Brodie Smith(Image: GMP)
Two thugs left a man in intensive care after driving him to the woods, beating him up and attempting to set him alight.
Toby Collens, 25, and Brodie Smith, 18, have both been jailed for their part in a horrific kidnapping. The next thing their victim remembered was waking up in hospital.
Mark Williams recalled being bundled into their car outside his home in Little Hulton before being driven to some nearby woods where he was attacked. He was then brought back to his flat, where he suffered another beating as his attackers threatened to cut his ear off with some scissors, Manchester Crown Court heard.
His attackers only left after Mr Williams’ girlfriend promised to pay them £400. Both Collens and Smith have been locked up.
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Prosecuting, Alistair Reid said that about 6pm on Christmas Day last year, a car pulled up outside Mr Williams’ flat. His girlfriend saw Mr Williams, Collens and Smith get out of the vehicle and the trio went inside Mr Williams’ flat.
“What occurred in the interim was frankly the stuff of nightmares,” the judge, Recorder Emma Fisher said.
Mr Williams’ girlfriend, Lisa Hull, said her partner was struggling to walk and had blood on his face. Inside, Collens and Smith began beating him up, punching him to his face, back and side while calling him a ‘smackhead’ and a ‘druggy’.
Ms Hull screamed and begged for them to stop. During the attack, a pair of scissors was produced and Mr Williams was threatened that his ear would be cut off. Collens cut out chunks of his hair.
The attack lasted about 25 minutes. Collens and Smith only left when terrified Ms Hull promised to pay them £400 the next day.
Mr Williams was rushed to hospital. He spent time in the intensive care unit, and his family said it was ‘touch and go if he lived or not’. When he woke up, Mr Williams, who had suffered significant memory loss due to the trauma due to the attack, told loved ones that Collens and Smith had attacked him, forced him into the boot of their car and drove him to some woods nearby, where he was attacked again.
He later told police that as he had been making his way to his mother’s house for Christmas dinner, he had been run over by the defendant’s car before he was bundled into it, and that in the woods the pair had ‘attempted to set him alight’. The judge said it was ‘unclear’ whether he had been hit by the car, and there was ‘uncertainty’ as to whether he was bundled into it.
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Mr Williams suffered nine fractures to his ribs, a collapsed lung and fractures to his nose and cheek. He spent 33 days in hospital.
Three days later, Ms Hull was out in Little Hulton when she was approached by someone who handed her a phone. On the other end was Collens. He told her: “I know I’ve done wrong.
“I’ve gone too far. Are you okay? How is Mark?” But his apparent concern soon waned.
Collens ordered her to retract her witness statement, and demanded that Mr Williams should not give a statement. He promised that if she did this, he ‘would look after her for drugs and money’. Terrified of what he was capable of, Ms Hull agreed. Collens and Smith were arrested on January 8.
Collens and Smith both pleaded guilty to section 20 wounding and kidnap. Collens also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. Lawyers for both men said the defendants were remorseful and that their strongest mitigation was their guilty pleas.
For Smith, Paul Treble claimed that the incident followed a ‘dispute’ where Mr Williams wouldn’t give Smith his coat back. Collens, of Sportside Avenue, Salford, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison, while Smith, of Melbourne Street, Salford, was sentenced to three years and nine months.