Thursday, May 19 2005 19:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Four illegal immigrants from India, including a woman, have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from three-and-a-half to 12 years on charges of kidnapping an 11-year-old boy and demanding a ransom of 40,000 pounds from his family.

Judge Richard Matheson at the Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court yesterday (May 18, 2005) sentenced 23-year-old Ravideep Babu for 12 years in prison and ordered that he be deported to India at the end of his sentence.

"I have not the slightest doubt that you were the instigator and prime mover in these offences and by far and away had the most serious degree of participation," the judge told Babu.

"These are extremely serious offences and you are, in my opinion, quite dangerous, always ready to resort to threats. There have been many."

Babu's accomplices, Amarjit Dhariwar, 30, and Gurnham Dhanoa, 22, were also convicted of the three charges of kidnap, blackmail and false imprisonment and were jailed for seven and six years respectively.

The fourth accused Ayisha Choudhry, 20, admitted all three charges and was jailed for 3 and 1 to 2 years. The judge took into account her guilty pleas and that she gave evidence against the others.

The boy was on his way home from school in March last year (2004) when he was grabbed by Babu, bundled into a car and held in a squalid room in London for 26 hours, the court was told. At one stage Babu shoved a telephone into the child's face so that the boy could plead to his father "Dad, can you hurry up with the money, please."

Armed police eventually rescued the boy when they arrested one of the other kidnappers, who revealed where the boy was being held.

Although physically unhurt, the child now suffers from nightmares and panic attacks, and his schooling has been affected, the court was told.

The boy was driven to Babu's home in Southall, in West London, where the floor was "covered in rubbish", "smelled like a dump" and the curtains were drawn.

Several chilling calls were made to his parents from there, warning them that he would be killed if the money were not paid within ten hours. The boy asked his kidnappers what they would do with the money and Babu said: "Go shopping, go to Paris and buy a new Ferrari."

Giving evidence, the boy said that his "prison" consisted of a single bed, a cupboard and a chair. Initially he was in tears as he begged to be released but he bravely began to stand up to his captors.

"The first day I was quite scared, but then I thought there's no point in being scared because I know Dad's going to help me. I started answering back," he said.

Babu "acted like a gangster" during his ordeal, the boy said. "He tried to talk all bad and mean. He changed his voice, he changed his attitude and started pushing me around."

Matthew Kennedy, for the prosecution, told the court that the gang acted out of greed. He said that Babu, who was smuggled into Britain from India four years ago, believed the boy's father "could afford to pay a substantial sum of money for his son's safety".