‘Obsessed’ ex-partner tried to kidnap nurse
AN ‘obsessed’ expartner tried to kidnap a nurse at Macclesfield hospital at knifepoint disguised as a woman.
A court heard Gregory Whyte tried to grab his expartner while dressed as a nurse and wearing a wig and female face mask as she left work in the hospital car park.
But the kidnap plot ended in his arrest after stunned bystanders rushed out to intervene in the dispute.
Whyte, 55, has been handed an extended 12-year prison term after hearing that had struggled to come to terms with his relationship breakdown and believed he was owed money from the couple’s timeshare in Malta.
Chester Crown Court was told that he had been planning the kidnap for two months, searched the internet for a mask and wig, and had put together a sinister kit - including home-made handcuffs and knives.
He even did a ‘dummy run’ from his home in the Potteries to Macclesfield just days before the incident. The former care home manager Whyte had met his ex-partner - who lives in Stoke-onTrent - when they previously worked together.
Prosecutor Anna Pope said: “His ex-partner had met another man and what was clear was that she did not want any further communication with him. He put together a plan to kidnap her when she was due to finish work. He researched online for items and did a dummy run days before.”
The nurse had returned to her car when Whyte grabbed her at 8pm on Saturday, February 4, 2017. Mrs Pope added: “She started to scream and she could tell it was a man because of the size of the person and the force. The man shouted at her to be quiet and said: ‘shut up or I will kill you’. He pushed her in the car and she turned, facing the person, and it frightened her even more.”
The court heard Whyte was wearing a female face mask, long dark-haired wig and a female nurse’s tunic. Mrs Pope added: “The struggle continued and she continued to scream. The defendant put one hand on her mouth and kept shouting ‘shut up or I will kill you’. He was holding a knife and thrusting it to her. She believed she would be killed. Other people saw the struggle and ran to assist. At this time, during the struggle, the defendant’s mask and wig came off and she recognised him. He told her to be quiet and suggested they went back home. After he saw people approach he picked up a carrier bag, tried to open the passenger door and then walked away. Those passers-by said she was physically shaking and appeared terrified.”