Trio kidnapped and tortured man in Luton - after blaming him of damaging a car window

Three men kidnapped and tortured a man for hours after blaming him for damaging a car window.

Safed Rafiq, 36, of Claremont Road, Luton, Idnan Akbar, 32, of Blenheim Crescent, Luton and 24-year-old Dawud Safeer of Lyvelly Gardens, Peterborough were yesterday (Wednesday, December 7) convicted of carrying out the brutal attack after a hearing at Luton Crown Court.

They pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and false imprisonment.

The victim was repeatedly punched, and attacked with a heated machete, baseball bat and hammer.

The torture only stopped when Bedfordshire Police officers responded to a report that a man had been kidnapped and was being held at the address in Ash Road.

They found him with injuries included broken bones and knife wounds, and he was taken to hospital.

Police found 13 men and two women, aged between 24 and 53, inside the house – who were arrested for offences including kidnap.

They also found knives and machetes.

Investigations found the trio had targeted the victim after suspecting him of smashing one of Akbar’s car windows.

At around 12.30pm on November 29, Rafiq had approached the victim on Ash Road in Luton, walking him to a butchers on Hampton Road and then marching him back to a house in Ash Road.

Once in the house the victim was forced upstairs and attacked.

Rafiq and Safeer were arrested shortly after the incident but Akbar avoided arrest and was found in a flat in Sherd House, Luton, five months later.

Detective Constable Adam Geary, from Bedfordshire Police, said: “This is one of the most disturbing acts of violence I have come across and is truly shocking incident which involved the victim suffering immensely.

“The attack that Akbar, Rafiq and Safeer undertook was brutal to the extreme; they are clearly both incredibly dangerous men who have no place in society and it is good news that they have pleaded guilty to the offences.

“We won’t tolerate violence such as this in Bedfordshire. Anyone involved in such abhorrent behaviour can expect to be apprehended and put before the courts.”

Akbar, Rafiq and Safeer will be sentenced at the same court on January 13.