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Toby Collens, left, and Brodie Smith(Image: GMP)<\/p>\nKidnappers Toby Collens and Brodie Smith have been jailedToby Collens, left, and Brodie Smith(Image: GMP)<\/p>\n
Two thugs left a man in intensive care after driving him to the woods, beating him up and attempting to set him alight.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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<\/a> heard.<\/p>\n His attackers only left after Mr Williams\u2019 girlfriend promised to pay them \u00a3400. Both Collens and Smith have been locked up.<\/p>\n Sign up to the MEN Court newsletter here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Prosecuting, Alistair Reid said that about 6pm on Christmas<\/a> Day last year, a car pulled up outside Mr Williams\u2019 flat. His girlfriend saw Mr Williams, Collens and Smith get out of the vehicle and the trio went inside Mr Williams\u2019 flat.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat occurred in the interim was frankly the stuff of nightmares,\u201d the judge, Recorder Emma Fisher said.<\/p>\n Mr Williams\u2019 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 \u2018smackhead\u2019 and a \u2018druggy\u2019.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The attack lasted about 25 minutes. Collens and Smith only left when terrified Ms Hull promised to pay them \u00a3400 the next day.<\/p>\n Mr Williams was rushed to hospital. He spent time in the intensive care unit, and his family said it was \u2018touch and go if he lived or not\u2019. 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.<\/p>\n He later told police that as he had been making his way to his mother\u2019s house for Christmas dinner, he had been run over by the defendant\u2019s car before he was bundled into it, and that in the woods the pair had \u2018attempted to set him alight\u2019. The judge said it was \u2018unclear\u2019 whether he had been hit by the car, and there was \u2018uncertainty\u2019 as to whether he was bundled into it.<\/p>\n