Man accused of kidnap-torture plot was victim of ‘web of lies’

Mr T was accused of threatening to kill a man he believed had gambled away a gang’s drug profits.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr T and four co-defendants kidnapped the supposed victim and forced him into the back of his own car.  He claimed he was knocked unconscious, punched repeatedly and threatened with a knife.

He was also stabbed with a screwdriver and had a gun placed in his mouth, a court heard.

But expert lawyers turned a two-month trial on its head after it emerged that the so-called victim concocted a string of lies against Mr T to cover up his own criminality.

Prosecutors had claimed the ‘victim’ escaped his attackers by breaking into a house in fear of his life. He was found in a kitchen by police after neighbours raised the alarm.

Serious crime lawyers from Stuart Miller Solicitors were able to prove that the ‘victim’ was really a repeat crook caught in the act of burglary

Knowing he faced a prison sentence, he dreamed up the torture tale implicating Mr T as the lead assailant.

Solicitors, who advised Mr T to put forward a prepared written defence statement to police following his arrest, quickly blew apart the prosecution case.

A spokesman for the London firm said: “Our theory of the case was that the victim had long-standing gambling and drug addiction problems.

“He financed his addiction by theft, drug dealing and criminality.

“Mr T was known to the victim but contrary to the prosecution’s version of events, he was a friend of the victim and often supported him financially.”

Lawyers for Mr T accepted that the pair were together on the day of the alleged kidnapping – but argued that was because the victim called saying he was in trouble.

The court heard that the victim had already been attacked by others before meeting up with Mr T, who even tried to help by driving him to friends to collect cash to pay off the gang.

Stuart Miller Solicitors uncovered the real motive behind the victim’s web of lies – to avoid being caught in the act of burglary.

The spokesman added: “The false narrative was based on the fact that the victim was carrying out a burglary when he was found.

“He knew that he faced a prison sentence, so he decided to concoct and elaborate story implicating our client in allegations of kidnap, ABH, blackmail and torture.”

Jurors acquitted Mr T unanimously in just 45 minutes. He was immediately released from prison and reunited with his family after six months on remand.

The spokesman said: “Defence proactive investigation was everything in the success of this case and our crime solicitors began to investigate the victim.

“They discovered that he had a long criminal history of offences including drug dealing, theft and burglary. Due to their expertise and experience in cyber-related offences they were also able to recover social media posts which demonstrated that the victim was neither credible nor truthful.

“Equipped with the above material, our specialist barrister was able to attack the credibility of the so-called victim and it became apparent to the jury the allegations were no more than convenient lies to circumvent a burglary charge and a possible prison sentence.”