Light sentence for kidnapper

AN EAST LONDON man who kidnapped a woman and kept her tied up in the boot of his car was sentenced to just 15 months in prison when he appeared for sentencing at Snaresbrook Crown Court last week.

The woman was saved when police saw Shafak Abbas, 24, of Wickford Street, E1, sitting in a stationary gold Mercedes in Kingfield Street just past midday on 18th April. They asked him if he was insured to drive the vehicle and he admitted that he was not.

Police were not satisfied as Abbas appeared to be avoiding answering their questions in full. They searched the vehicle and found a gun in the footwell of the passenger seat. Abbas then admitted that he had kidnapped a 26 year old woman, who was known to him, and she was locked in the boot of the car. The police opened the boot and found the victim inside, in a very distressed condition.

Abbas was put on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court. The Met Police officers who spoke to Abbas had Body Worn Videos which provided vital evidence at the trial, which lasted for four days. The hearing ended on 15th September with him being found guilty.

Abbas had previously been banned from driving and he has now been banned from driving a second time – this time until June 2021. Will this relatively short prison sentence cut short this man’s criminal career? That we cannot know – but it does not send out  much of a message to young men across East London about the seriousness of kidnapping women.

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