A wild night out for a trio of Londoners ended in a chaotic mess of lost phones, kidnapping and jail.
Chase Harman, 26, Robert Naidoo, 32, and Michael Sharland, 32, of London had travelled by car to Middlesbrough for a night of gambling. When they left the casino, they ventured out to an illegal brothel.
Once they left the brothel, however, they realised they had lost their phones.
Two men approached the trio prepared to offer help, but instead found themselves threatened with violence when their suggested resolution didn’t work out.
All of this happened while a man of Vietnamese descent, who the rambunctious trio had picked up on their adventures, was asleep drunk in the backseat.
All three men pleaded guilty in the Teesside Crown Court the next morning.
Naidoo had reportedly threatened one of the men, claiming he would shoot him if he didn’t get out of the car and join them. Naidoo was not armed at the time.
While the victim was taken by the trio, his friend called police, who caught up with Naidoo and company, and arrested them.
Sharland told police at the time they had gambled and “had some fun with girls” when they realised their phones had been stolen.
The victim and his friend then offered help, directing them to a house that may have stored the lost phones.
When they arrived at the house and no one answered, Naidoo forced the victim into the trio’s car.
The court heard that Sharland and Harman had 53 and 32 offences on record, respectively.
Naidoo had been given a 10-year sentence in the past for armed robbery in 2007.
The men were remanded in custody from the time of their arrest until their hearing, at which point the judge said time served was a necessary punishment, while also slapping each of the trio with a six-month sentence suspended for two years, as well as a £100 fine each to be paid to the victim.
It sounds like a script treatment for The Hangover: Part 4, although far more enthralling than anything in Part 3. It’s surprising that the punishment was so light, seeing as though the act of threatening someone with violence is in itself a serious crime, as is taking someone against their will, both of which this terrible trio did. They’re probably lucky they got off so lightly.
