Police Appeal for Help With Brighton Kidnapping

Officers believe one of the men may have been the victim of the kidnapping and that the other may have seen it happen.

Just before 6pm on Sunday (12 April) a man was bundled into a Vauxhall Astra with the registration number HN05 FPY in Princes Terrace, Brighton, just moments after he got out of a taxi in the road.

Police have so far been unable to identify the man who was attacked and are carrying out inquiries across the city to try to trace him.

Three men aged 23, 29 and 34 were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap. They currently remain in custody.

The CCTV package can be viewed by visiting https://youtu.be/DJw9MNyISJY. It opens with two men walking close to the taxi rank in Queens Square in Brighton shortly after 5.30pm on Sunday. Police need to trace them to check they are safe and well.

The next part of the footage was recorded on security cameras in Princes Terrace shortly before 6pm. It features two men standing next to a parked red car in the road. When a white taxi pulls up close by, the men move towards it.

The footage then cuts to a white Vauxhall Astra parked nearby. A number of men get out of the vehicle and go out of the view of the camera. A group of figures are then seen dragging another man to the Vauxhall and forcing him inside before the car is driven off.

Detective Inspector Gordon Denslow said:

Although the footage is not of high quality, it is clear enough to show the drama of what happened. I am hopeful that it could prompt someone who has seen something – like the Vauxhall being driven away at speed or men arguing inside it – to contact us.

We urgently need to speak to the two men shown at the start of the footage. We have no evidence that they have been harmed but we need to find them to make sure that they are ok.If you know who they are or you know where they could be, please contact us.

We also need to speak to anyone who may have seen the Vauxhall Astra before or after the kidnapping and to any other witnesses, in particular a man in a white van who drove along Princes Terrace at the time of the incident and could have important information about what happened.”

Anyone with information should email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk, call 101 quoting Operation Wave or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.