Two county line drug dealers who were involved in a kidnapping in Colchester during which a man suffered four broken ribs and a punctured lung after being stripped and repeatedly beaten have been jailed for a total of nearly 10 years.
The victim, who was a drug user, had got into debt with the “Drake” drug line operated by Ismail Menevili and Carlos Reich and had been ordered to deal drugs to settle the debt, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
However, he’d changed his mind and Menevili and Reich had gone to his disabled girlfriend’s home in Colchester while she was alone in bed, said Stephen Rose, prosecuting.
She woke up to find the men standing over her and they had threatened her with a saucepan while demanding to know where her boyfriend was.
Members of the gang remained with the woman while Reich and Menevili went off in search of her boyfriend.
They found him nearby and forced him into a Nissan vehicle and took him to Elm Close in Tiptree.
During the 15-minute journey, he was held in a headlock and on arrival at Elm Close he was stripped and beaten before being left in the street.
He was taken to hospital and found to have four broken ribs and a punctured lung and was discharged from hospital a week later, said Mr Rose.
Menevili, 29, of Church Street, London, and Carlos Reich, 26, of Charlton Road, Lower Edmonton, admitted kidnap, affray and unlawful wounding.
The offences took place in Colchester on January 8, 2020.
Reich was jailed for 62 months and Menevili was sentenced to 53 months, less time they have spent in custody and on a qualifying curfew.
The court heard that since the offences the male victim had been diagnosed with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
Archangelo Power, for Reich, said his client had a supportive family and wanted to put the past behind him when he was released from prison.
He said he had shown maturity by holding up his hands to what he’d done
Michael Conning, for Menevili, said his client was remorseful for what he’d done and had no previous convictions.
He said Menevili had worked in his father’s construction business and realised the suffering that had been caused to the two victims.
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