A MAN has been jailed for 12 years for his part in a brutal 15-hour kidnap in an attempt to extort £100,000.

Aaron Hampson, 27, from Mansfield Crescent, Nelson, was one of a gang of four men who were given a combined 44 years in prison after a 36-year-old man was kidnapped, beaten and threatened with an axe.

Luke Anderson, 25, of Samuel Street, Preston and Stephen Helm, 35, of no fixed address, were also given 12 year sentences and Jordan Fowler, 21, of Marlborough Drive, Walton Le Dale, was jailed for eight years and four months for conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail.

Christopher Darragh, 50, of Princess Street, Preston was handed a six-month jail term for perverting the course of justice after providing false information to the police about the car used during the kidnap.

The attack took place on January 25 at 8pm when the victim, from Preston, was beaten, had his hands tied behind his back with cable ties and bundled into the boot of a silver Lexus car near his home.

He was moved to a remote location in Bamber Bridge, where he was threatened further with the axe, beaten and forced to remove his trousers.

Fowler then visited a nearby shop and bought a SIM card, which was used to contact the victim's brother to make demands of £100,000 for his release, or he would be cut up or drowned.

He was kept in the car boot overnight and was only released at 11.30am the following day when Fowler demanded he get out of the vehicle on Chapel Lane, Houghton, before crashing it into another car. He fled the collision across some nearby fields.

Police enquiries identified Fowler from some CCTV footage which led to his arrest, during which he attempted to escape over a roof.

The investigation exposed Anderson was using the name 'blazer' and other aliases to try and avoid his identity becoming unknown to authorities.

It was revealed that the Lexus used in the kidnap was sold by Christopher Darragh, 50, of Princess Street, Preston, but he lied to officers about the circumstances of the sale stating that he had sold it to a man whose details he hadn’t kept.

Helm had purchased the car from Darragh just before the kidnap.

DS Dave Brooks from Lancashire’s Serious Crime Team said: "I am pleased with the sentences handed to these men who I can only describe as violent thugs.

"Not only did they kidnap this man and physically attack him, they also made threatening calls to his brother making demands for an extortionate amount of money which he would not have been able to pay.

"I cannot imagine the fear both him and the victim must have felt.

"I hope this case sends a message to those involved in organised criminality that we will find you and put you before the courts to get justice."

The result follows a five-week trial earlier this month where Hampson, Anderson and Helm were found guilty, Fowler and Darragh admitted their guilt at a previous hearing.