Thugs get 18 years for kidnap terror
Two masked kidnappers who threatened to murder an elderly couple after invading their home in Scarborough have been j ailed for a total of 18 years. Carl Howley and Nicholas Dodsworth threatened them with a knife before snatching the couple who were i n their apartment j ust watching Coronation Street.
Other inmates were so repulsed by the crime that Dodsworth had to be kept isolated in prison for his own protection while on remand.
The couple were forced to hand over cash and jewellery, and forced to reveal their cash card pin numbers
as they were taken on a ride of terror. The thugs have each been jailed for nine years for ransacking the sea-view flat in the Esplanade, before subjecting the couple – both in their mid-80s – to an ordeal.
Howley held the 6in knife to the 84-year-old woman’s throat to hand over jewellery while he demanded cash, cards and pin numbers. As she frantically scrambled around for the goods, her breathless husband’s head was caned with his walking stick before it was smashed into her face.
The couple were bundled into their own Range Rover before the drunk duo took them on a 90mph A64 terror ride.
They collided with other vehicles and clipped park cars on the 45- minute joyride before, fearing for his l i fe, the 85-year-old man grabbed the gear stick and put it in neutral, bringing the Range Rover to a crashing halt in Eastfield.
It was at this point another Scarborough couple were driving past, and came to their rescue. Speaking to The Scarborough News, the ‘Good Samaritan’ who found them said she’s convinced that had they not stopped, the pensioners wouldn’t be alive today.
“I felt sick when I realised what had happened,” said the anonymous woman. “I asked what had happened and she said ‘they’ve robbed us’. That’s someone’s parents or grandparents, and if we hadn’t got to them, where would they be now?” She said that the Howley and Dodsworth begged her to drive them to Leeds, which it is believed is their home area.
Scarborough police re-sponded by mobilising the helicopter and dog section to track down the kidnappers. The shocked couple were taken to Scarborough Hospital.
Officers followed a trail of destruction to Eastfield Proudfoots’ cash machine where Dodsworth and Howley were using the victims’ bank cards to withdraw money. They were arrested and charged with kidnap, burglary, aggravated vehicle-taking and using a vehicle without insurance or a licence.
Dodsworth, 20, and Howley, 30, appeared for sentence this week after previously admitting the charges. Prosecutor Peter Sabiston said the shocking incident began at about 8pm on January 26. The couple heard a door knock with a face peering in. When the door was opened, Howley and Dodsworth forced their way in.
Howley punched the pensioner in the face and stomach. Reeking of booze, Howley and Dodsworth, pushed the husband back into the bedroom where Dodsworth pointed to a knife i n his pocket before searching the flat for goods.
As she desperately tried to prise the ring off her finger, main aggressor Howley decided she was too slow and attacked both pensioners, before she handed him £140.
Mr Sabiston claimed Howley said to Dodsworth: “If you get any grief off him, stab him in the ribs”, before driving off, shouting “Hee-ha” as they raced through the streets.
In the two-hour ordeal. with the husband suffered bruising and grazing to his f ace. His wife suffered deep bruising to her jaw. He added: “They say they are now very nervous to answer the door at night, are trouble sleeping and wake up with nightmares.”
The court heard that Howley, of South Street, Scarborough, had a long list of previous convictions, many in his native Scotland for robbery, assault and possessing drugs.
Dodsworth, of North Marine Road, had previous convictions for ABH, burglary, possessing weapons and battery.
Defence barrister Taryn Turner, speaking on behalf of Dodsworth, said he had been kept in a vulnerable prisoner’s wing while on remand because other inmates were appalled at what he and Howley had done.
Nearby residents doubt that the couple will return to the flat.
Howley and Dodsworth were also given three-year driving bans.