Dad is jailed over kidnap.A "HARDWORKING family man" has been jailed for two years after kidnapping a former prostitute with a machete. Dad James Beeches, 36, claimed he was making a "citizen's arrest cit·i·zen's arrest n. An arrest made by a citizen, for whom legal authority arises from the fact of citizenship, rather than by an officer of the law. " on January 25 after Danielle McLoughlin, 25, picked pounds 160 from the Corus worker's pocket. At a hearing in front of a judge last month at Teesside Crown Court, Louise Reevell, for the prosecution, told how Beeches, of Hill Crescent, Redcar, bundled the former prostitute into his saloon car on Borough Road Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east-west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street. Southwark Bridge Road crosses Borough Road north-south about halfway along. The railway to Blackfriars station also passes overhead at the junction. , Middlesbrough, while brandishing the foot-long blade. He said his intention was to take her to the police station after the cash was stolen from him outside a takeaway on Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough. The heavy plant driver told the court that when he was outside the takeaway shop, Miss McLoughlin approached him and asked for a cigarette whilst being "touchy feely". Only after Beeches returned home did he realise the roll of notes was missing - at that point he "saw red" and returned to Middlesbrough to search for the thief. Miss McLoughlin said she feared for her life during the short car journey. The pair never made it to the police station, and, after driving back to central Middlesbrough, Beeches was arrested. The judge rejected the prosecution's claim that Beeches had a sexual motive, deciding it was a crude attempt to recover stolen cash. Beeches admitted kidnap and possession of an offensive weapon. Yesterday, Robert Mochrie, defending, told how Beeches, a man with a "strong work ethic" and sense of duty toward his family, was not a vicious kidnapper but a man under extreme stress. He said: "Mr Beeches accepts that when one hears the word kidnap one's mind come to the ready conclusion that this must have been a very serious crime indeed - but this offence was committed under a very different context." Recorder Neil Davey QC said Beeches attempt at a citizen's arrest was "misjudged" adding: "What you did was perpetrate per·pe·trate tr.v. per·pe·trat·ed, per·pe·trat·ing, per·pe·trates To be responsible for; commit: perpetrate a crime; perpetrate a practical joke. every woman's nightmare - bundling her into a car at knifepoint knife·point n. The sharp end of a knife. Idiom: at knifepoint Under threat of being stabbed or cut with a knife: was mugged at knifepoint. ." CAPTION(S): SENT TO JAIL: James Beeches |
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