Gang tortured Holloway man with an iron and broke eye socket

Allan Smith (Image: Archant)

A Holloway man who burned a kidnap victim with an iron and hot water in an attempt to hold his family to ransom has been jailed for 11 years.

Allan Smith, 28, of Tufnell Park Road, was part of a gang of at least three men that kidnapped a 27-year-old man from outside his home in Upper Holloway and tortured him for 12 hours, burgling his house and then dumping him in the Chalk Farm area of Camden.

Whilst being held at a flat in Belsize Park, the victim had a sock shoved in his mouth and a pillowcase put over his head before suffering a beating that left him with a broken eye socket.

The gang, which has so far been sentenced to 63 years in prison, also kidnapped a 24-year-old man two days later – beating him with an iron bar and telling his family they would cut off his fingers if they did not pay a ransom of £30,000 for his return.

Smith was not charged in relation to the second kidnapping.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison at the Old Bailey on Thursday last week.

Detective Sergeant Tim Mustoe, from the Met’s human trafficking and kidnap unit, said: “The defendants were members of a violent gang that treated kidnap and torture as a business.

“They had no regard for the impact their offending had on the victims or the victim’s families. These convictions demonstrate the commitment of the MPS to tackle violent criminals and bring them to justice.”

The gang were caught when the first man they kidnapped was able to remember the circle windows of the tower block he was kept in and the view of Wembley Stadium which led police to the flat in Dorney tower block, Belsize Park.

Fingerprints found at this address linked Courtney Bishop, 27, of Dunelm Grove, Lambeth to this stronghold, and mobile phone analysis linked Courtney Bishop to the other gang members who he had contacted at points during the two kidnappings.

Courtney Bishop was jailed for a total of 24 years while Christopher White, 29 of Bute Road, Croydon will be sentenced at a later date. Both were convicted on 10 counts against both the victims (five on each victim).

Nigel Bishop, 27, of Dunelm Grove, Lambeth and Keith Walker, 35, of Lindsey Grove, Mitcham, were jailed of total of 14 years after being convicted in relation to the second victim. Bishop was found not guilty in relation to offences against the first victim while Walker was never charged.