Faces of two cousins who kidnapped and tortured man for days in Birmingham flat leaving victim with 'life-changing' injuries'
Police have revealed the faces of two cousins who are expected to receive lengthy jail terms for the kidnap and torture of a man in Birmingham.
Miles Blakeney and Luke Hazell, both 37, left their victim with life-changing injuries after a violent kidnap in Lozells, Birmingham.
Just before 8pm on 21 January 2023, a group of men wearing balaclavas jumped out of a Land Rover on Anglesey Street and chased their victim, a man in his 20s.
He was bundled into the vehicle, had his coat removed and a cover placed over his head before being driven away.
A relative of the victim phoned police just after 8.10pm to report the kidnap, before the victim himself phoned another relative from a withheld number.
He sounded distressed as he revealed: “They have kidnapped me, they have kidnapped me. They want money. They want three mill (£3m).”
A police investigation tracked the vehicle to a flat in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
In the early hours of the following day, a man guarding the victim fell asleep and he tried and failed to escape, hitting his captor with a vodka bottle.
Over the following days, the victim was tied up and had boiling water poured over him.
He was dumped in the street, naked and badly injured, just before 10pm on 26 January. A member of the public found him and raised the alarm.
A detailed investigation by West Midlands Police's Major Crime Unit tracked mobile phone data, movements of vehicles, and used DNA techniques to identify Hazell, who arranged the kidnap, and Blakeney, who was in charge of the flat.
At Birmingham Crown Court, Hazell, of Dovedale Road, Birmingham, and Blakeney, of Ashley Close, Birmingham, were yesterday (Friday) convicted of conspiracy to kidnap, false imprisonment, blackmail, and wounding with intent.
They are expected to receive lengthy jail terms when they will be sentenced on March 27, according to police.
Det Insp Francis Nock, of the Major Crime Unit, said: "This was an horrific ordeal for the victim, who was left with life-changing injuries after a prolonged period of being held against his will and effectively tortured.
"The gang was willing to use extreme violence, and their victim will live with that for the rest of his life.
"While neither Blakeney or Hazell physically kidnapped the victim, Blakeney was at the flat when he arrived, and Hazell went to the flat after the victim tried to escape and personally inflicted the injuries on him.
"A huge amount of work went into identifying the kidnappers and piecing together their movements, through painstaking trawls of mobile phone data, vehicle movements, and other witness evidence has secured these convictions."
