A man had his big toe put in a garlic crusher after being kidnapped off the street and held at a house in Letchworth overnight with his girlfriend, a court heard on Tuesday November 30, 2021.
In the house the pair were told that they had to come with £600 to settle a drugs debt, it was claimed.
A court was told that when the girlfriend was driven to the bank the next morning to get the money she was able to alert the manager and the police were contacted.
The three people from Letchworth said to have been behind the kidnapping and blackmailing of the pair are on trial at St Albans Crown Court.
Ricardo Johnson, 36, Stacey Edwards, 43, and Natasha Symonds, 34, each pleaded not guilty two two offences of kidnap, two offences of false imprisonment and two offences of blackmail.
Mr Johnson alone pleads not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and Miss Edwards denied a further charge of assault by beating.
Outlining the case to the jury, Philip Misner prosecuting said the “backdrop” to what happened overnight on May 5 and 6, 2021, this year concerned the “world of drug deals” and “drug debts.”
The jury was told how at around 11pm on the night of Wednesday May 5 this year the male complainant was walking along Eastern Way in Letchworth, having just visited a late night store, when a car driven by Miss Symonds pulled up alongside.
Mr Johnson who lived in Eastern Road jumped out from the passenger seat and bundled the man into the vehicle where he was blindfolded and made to call his girlfriend in a phone that was handed to him.
Mr Misner said that when the man spoke to his girlfriend he told her he was with Mr Johnson referring to him by his nickname, “Devil.”
The jury then heard how the couple ended up being driven to an address in Western Way in Letchworth which was the home of Miss Edwards.
There, said the prosecutor, the male was pushed by Miss Symonds before Mr Johnson struck him on the back of his head.
He then took something from a drawer in the kitchen striking the man over the top of his head and telling him “Pay me or you will be a dead man.”
Mr Misner said the male was punched in the chest, tied up and a rag stuffed in his mouth. Mr Johnson is said to have then used a “spliff” to singe the eyebrows of the man.
The jury heard how he made the woman remove her boyfriend’s shoe and sock and then put his big toe in a garlic crusher.
He forced the man to drink beer and poured Bacardi up his nose. Mr Misner said “He was playing with him like a cat plays with a mouse.”
The court heard as the couple’s ordeal continued they were made to stand in corners and not to move.
Stacey Edwards, said the prosecutor, had been making a a bead necklace during this time and he went on: “like one of these women knitting at the guillotine.
At one point Mr Johnson is said to have slapped the woman complainant across the face. The prosecutor said the figure that was being demanded from the couple was £600 and they were told: “You can get the money now or we will see you later.”
Stacey Edwards is alleged to have struck the woman during the small hours.
Later that morning the court heard the woman was driven into Letchworth town centre so she could withdraw the money out from bank.
Miss Edwards was with her, but waited outside the branch while the woman went in alone, said Mr Misner.
He went on: “Inside the bank she was alone and she told the manager she needed help and the police were called.”
Officers attended and Miss Edwards was was arrested outside and back at the house the male complainant was finally able to leave.
Mr Johnson and Miss Symonds were arrested later the same day at her home in Eastern Way.
Giving evidence the man told the jury he had given a “yelp” as his toe was in the garlic crusher. Later he said Mr Johnson made him stand in front of his girlfriend as he told her: “This is the last time you are going to see him.”
Case proceeding
