Nottinghamshire brothers spared jail after kidnapping child and threatening ‘to chop his legs off’
Brothers repeatedly threatened child with violence over mistaken identity ‘theft’
Two Nottinghamshire brothers who kidnapped a child and threatened to chop his legs off have been spared jail.
David and Neil Stevenson, both from Hucknall, bundled the boy into the back of a car in the town before speeding off on April 24.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the pair wrongly believed the 14-year-old had stolen an e-scooter from a younger family member.
Both brothers pleaded guilty to kidnapping and were jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years on Tuesday, July 25.
Nottinghamshire Police said the teenager was “repeatedly” threatened with violence as the brothers drove him towards the Bulwell area if he did not tell them where the e-scooter was.
When they realised they had the wrong person, the pair drove the boy back to Hucknall and threatened him again, warning him they would kill him if he did not find out who stole the e-scooter, before releasing him.
The Stevenson brothers were tracked down after the kidnapping on Nabbs Lane and the number plate of a black Nissan Qashqai was captured on CCTV.
Neil Stevenson, 41, of Dawlish Close, Hucknall, and David Stevenson, 51, of The Common, Hucknall were both jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay a £187 victim surcharge.
Det Con Ryan Lambert, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “A child being kidnapped in broad daylight is every parent’s worst nightmare.
“By taking the law into their own hands, they put an innocent child through an extremely frightening ordeal – one that will stay with them for a very long time.
“I hope the conclusion of the court proceedings gives the child and their family a sense of closure and that they can now begin to put what happened behind them.”