TWO people have been sentenced for kidnapping a woman from Derby – forcing her screaming into the back of a car and driving off.
Shabir Shah, who knew the victim, was driven to Derby from Yorkshire by his then girlfriend, Alanna Eames, to carry out the crime.
Shah ambushed the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, as she left work, "took hold of her and forced her to get into the car", Derby Crown Court was told.
Jailing Shah, 27, for 18 months, Judge Jonathan Gosling said: "People heard the screams and protestations that were going on – two passersby tried to stop you from getting away. You told your girlfriend to put her foot down and get away."
Mother-of-two Eames, who just days ago gave birth to her daughter, was given an 11-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Judge Gosling said it had been Shah's plan but Eames "had not backed off".
Sentencing Eames, he said: "You provided transport as he cannot drive and you made the call to her place of work – you pretended to be a police officer and drove off when you saw she had been kidnapped. You were prepared to help him. You're not as culpable as he is but you played a vital part at his bidding."
The judge said the "only reason" he was not sending Eames, 27, straight to prison was because of her baby.
He said: "You have not only a young son but a few days ago gave birth to a daughter. For you to have to serve a sentence now would be a brutal thing. It's a vital time for your young baby now and to separate you from your young baby would have terrible consequences."
The judge said what they had done on May 10 was "a very serious crime".
He said: "You (Shah) planned what you were going to do. You came down from Leeds the night before in hope of finding her and you got Alanna Eames to telephone her place of work to see if she was there and the intention was to abduct her that night if you could. You did not succeed so you returned to Yorkshire and came back the next day."
Judge Gosling said the woman had been "absolutely terrified by the ordeal".
He said: "You (Shah and Eames) would have continued your journey to Yorkshire if police had not intercepted you."
Shah, of Legrams Lane, Bradford, and Eames, of Waterloo Grove, Pudsey, admitted kidnap. The judge said he had treated them both as people of good character when sentencing them.
