Sunday, July 27, 2008

Dalek-voice changer at centre of bizarre kidnap plot

A jilted boyfriend hatched a bizarre plot to kidnap the woman who had rejected him - using a Dalek voice-changer helmet. James Wakefield hoped to win back his girlfriend's affections by having her abducted by a friend, then "heroically" rescuing her, a court heard.

He offered his friend Aaron Rawson £20,000 to take the woman to a wood and threaten to attack her, while wearing the helmet to disguise his voice. Wakefield, 28, would then turn up and "save" her in the hope of winning her back, the court heard.

Rawson, 21, claimed he thought Wakefield was joking until he turned up with the £40 helmet he had bought at Woolworths, along with night vision goggles, handcuffs, an air pistol, a balaclava, a boiler suit and a knife block.



The court was told that Rawson was meant to go to the woman's home in Newark, Nottinghamshire, hold the knife to her throat, then bundle her into the boot of a car and take her to the woods.

But after waiting outside her home twice, Rawson abandoned the plan. On the first occasion, he ran away after he was "spooked" by a cat. The second time he ran off after being caught in the glare of an approaching car's headlights, the court heard.

Wakefield had lived with the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, for six months before she ended their relationship three days before Christmas. He denied conspiracy to kidnap but was found guilty and sentenced to 14 months in prison. Rawson, of Newark, admitted the same charge at an earlier hearing and was given nine months in jail, suspended for 18 months.

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