Restaurant owner denies kidnap (From Ealing Times)

Restaurant owner denies kidnap

8:20am Wednesday 7th March 2007 in News

A WEALTHY restaurateur threatened to dismember a hostage and post his body back to his native Poland unless £60,000 taken in a burglary was returned, a court heard.

Andeel Hammad, 54, warned the victim he would be cut up unless his brother handed over money taken from his house, it is claimed.

The builder, in his 20s, was also allegedly blackmailed and cannot be named for legal reasons.

He was kept captive at a flat in Baker Street before being imprisoned in a bedroom with boarded windows in Southall.

He was threatened with a gun during his incarceration as his kidnappers repeatedly contacted his terrified fiancee to demand the money which was taken when Hammad was on holiday in Egypt.

Prosecutor David Durose said: "When he arrived things started to go very wrong indeed. He was taken to a bedroom where Mr Mohammed said: 'Your game is over. You are f***ed.' "Mr Hammad told him he could cut his body up, put it in a sack and send it back to Poland."

Blackfriars Crown Court heard on Monday how his fiancee contacted police who launched a surveillance operation and monitored phone calls.

Armed officers and specialists from the Met's Kidnap Unit then raided Hammad's large semi-detached home to free the victim on November 3, 2005.

Also accused of taking part in the blackmail and kidnap plot is cafe owner Karin Mohammed, 47, who also helped to manage Hammad's eaterie in the Edgware Road.

Jurors heard that Hassad's employee, mechanic Wojciech Krawczyk, 28, from Budoch Drive, Ilford, Essex has already admitted kidnapping and falsely imprisoning the fellow Pole.

Detectives arrested Hammad and Krawczyk at the scene before discovering a blank firing 8mm pistol used to allegedly threaten the kidnap victim.

Mohammed was later arrested at a restaurant in Edgware Road on November 21.

In police interviews Hammad denied abducting the builder and claimed the alleged victim had agreed to stay the night and had "free run of the house".

Mr Durose said: "Mr Hammad denied he had been kidnapped or falsely imprisoned at any stage and suggested he had been a willing party to the enterprise."

Hammad, of Bulls Bridge Road, Southall, and Mohammed, of Abingdon Road, Finchley, both deny blackmail, kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Hammad also denies a further charge of blackmail and one count of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

The trial continues.