A pair who kidnapped and robbed two construction workers after luring them to a remote location and forcing them to hand over £77,000 have been jailed.

The two men posed as land developers, creating a fake arrangement to meet the victims.

During the meeting, the victims were kidnapped and robbed at knifepoint.

The victims, who work for a London-based construction company, were contacted by someone claiming to be "Lee Kennedy" in June 2021.

"Kennedy" said he was looking to develop some land and wanted the company to view it before creating some designs for building development.

An arrangement was made for them all to meet in Leverington, near Wisbech, where they would then go on to view the land in Barton Road in Wisbech.

The victims arrived in Gadds Lane, Leverington, at 10.45am on June 30 where they met 59-year-old Norman Hitchings – who they believed to be Kennedy – who offered to take them to the land in his BMW X5.

Hitchings drove at high speed to a remote apple orchard in Gorefield, before getting out of the car and walking into the trees and returning with three other men – one now known to be 45-year-old Christopher Griffiths.

The victims were forced to the ground and had their hands cable-tied behind their backs.

Hitchings said: "You owe Lee Builders 77 grand, pay now or else", placing a knife to the man’s throat.

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He was handed back his phone while Hitchings watched him transfer £77,000 over to another bank account.

All four men made off in Hitchings’ BMW, leaving the two men stranded and cable tied.

They eventually managed to free themselves and made it to a nearby farm where the police were called.

Detectives identified a “burner” mobile phone used to contact the victims, as belonging to Hitchings and phone data also tracked his movements which matched up to around the time of the kidnap and robbery.

Enquiries were carried out into the email address used by the suspects to contact the victims, which revealed an “IP” address connected to Wi-Fi at an address in Brudenell, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough – the home address of Griffiths.

Mobile phone data showed Hitchings and Griffiths’ personal mobile phones had been in communication with each other on 168 occasions just prior to the robbery.

The pair were found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts of kidnap following a nine-day trial at Peterborough Crown Court in April. Griffiths was also found guilty of fraud.

On Tuesday, June 13, they both appeared at Peterborough Crown Court where Hitchings, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Griffiths, of Brudenell, Orton Goldhay, was also jailed for 10 years.