'Shameful' dealers including former soldier kidnapped man and left him naked in the street over drug debt
Violent gang of dealers who left rival disabled ran cocaine and heroin phone line worth at least £1m
A ‘shameful’ drug-dealing former soldier stripped a customer naked and subjected him to a beating before dumping him in the middle of a street.
Rees MacDonald, of Brewood, and partner in crime Steve Bunce, of Walsall, filmed their degrading treatment of the man on a mobile phone after going to his address and dragging him out of bed. They put him in a car and subjected him to multiple punches and kicks to the stomach before letting him go.
Footage of the incident in daylight in Wednesbury in 2023 was played at Wolverhampton Crown Court, where the pair were both sentenced for kidnapping - and Rees for conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin - on September 16.
MacDonald, who once served with the Mercian Regiment in Afghanistan, was shown at the wheel of the vehicle with the phone in his hand while Bunce, of Ingot Close, Beechdale, sat in the front passenger seat with the poor victim seated in a state of undress in the back.
MacDonald is heard to say: “We’re on a little kidnap session. Man dragged out of his bed.” He shouts at the victim asking him for his money, calling him “f****** smackhead”.
Co-defendant Bunce, who was 19 at the time, is heard to ask the man “where’s Rees’s money bruv” and is heard telling MacDonald to focus on the road ahead. However he is ignored by the driver, who leans behind to rain down punches on the victim who is heard howling in pain before silently hanging down his head. Bunce is also shown to strike the man, who was unknown to him.
Prosecutor Matthew Brook KC said a series of five videos of the attack were recorded and among them was footage of the man being kicked in the stomach before being allowed to flee on foot. He said the man, who was identified by West Midlands Police and spoken to by detectives, declined to give any statement relating to what happened to him.
“The victim is completely naked. He is stomped on in the stomach, punched and then flees naked. He tries to cover his genitals,” Mr Brook said.
He said the crime was aggravated by the fact that it was linked to serious criminality, drug debt, the recovered videos were clearly created for onward sharing and the naked man was subjected to “humiliating and degrading treatment”.
Mitigating for Bunce, now aged 22, barrister Sachin Rajput said: “This came to light when investigating officers looked at the video footage on MacDonald’s phone. The man was unknown to Bunce.
“It was a shameful incident. He was 19 at the time I would ask the court for a suspended sentence order.”
The pair were sentenced as part of a linked conspiracy to supply class A drugs case involving six other men and the operation of the telephone drug sales line dubbed the ‘P Line’ which was live between November 11, 2022 and January 2, 2025. The enterprise was at its lowest estimate valued to have earned £1 million.
It involved cocaine, heroin and cannabis sold to order in a sophisticated, organised operation that ran for 20 hours per day in three ‘shifts’, using bulk texts and calls on lines with the digits ending 6452 and 8908. The runners were given access to three cars stocked with wraps and manned by a driver and a passenger vendor, making deliveries in Walsall, Wednesbury, Smethwick and Birmingham.
The court heard psychiatric and psychology reports show MacDonald, now aged 31, of Shepherds Fold, Brewood, has post-traumatic stress disorder and a history of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Mitigating on his behalf, barrister Stephen Cadwaladr said MacDonald overcame childhood difficulties to join the army after school.
During active service he sustained two significant injuries, namely in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2014 and in a road crash in Germany in 2016, resulting in him being subsequently discharged from the military on medical grounds.
After that he worked as a delivery driver, but was sacked for using his company’s bank card to buy a sandwich. Mr Cadwaladr said substance dependency followed and that the mitigation was no excuse for his client's crimes.
“This goes a long way to explaining how a man who served his country with honour got to this stage. The kidnapping is a less serious example than the matter for which he is now serving time,” Mr Cadwaladr added.
For kidnapping and conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin MacDonald was jailed for a total of six years to run consecutively to the 14-year term (plus four years on licence) he is already serving for the group machete attack on Inderjit Singh Dulay in Darlaston on November 21, 2023 over a drugs dispute.
Mr Dulay was viciously attacked by three masked men wielding machetes and a hammer at the island junction of The Flatts, Richards Street and Victoria Road.
For kidnapping Bunce, who has no previous convictions, was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years with conditions to attend 35 rehabilitation activity days and must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work in the community. He must also pay the victims’ surcharge.
MacDonald and Bunce were also both made subject to an indefinite restraining order preventing them from contacting the kidnap victim in any way in future.
They appeared at the hearing alongside six others who played no part in the kidnapping episode. For admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin Zuhayb Abdi, aged 30, of Linwood Road, Handsworth, was jailed for seven years to run consecutively with the 14-year sentence (plus four years on licence) he is already serving for wounding Mr Dulay, who was left permanently disabled as a result of the incident near homes and Darlaston swimming baths.
For admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin Waqas Hussain, aged 27, of Wells Avenue, Darlaston, was jailed for five years to run consecutively with the 13 years (plus four years on licence) he is already serving for the attack on Mr Dulay.
For admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and for supplying cannabis Bradley Whatmore, aged 25, of Stonehouse Crescent, Friar Park, Wednesbury; and Hakeem Ali, aged 24, of Jasmine Way, Darlaston, were both jailed for 10 years and six months.
For admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin Quarnay Lee-Taylor, aged 25, of Lilac Grove, Friar Park, Wednesbury, was jailed for 12 years. He has links to West Bromwich.
For admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin Asa McIntosh, aged 21, of Foley Street, Wednesbury, was jailed for nine years and nine months.
Inderjit Singh Dulay was left with skull fractures, a brain injury and slash wounds after his car was cornered by a group arriving in separate vehicles on November 21, 2023.