Four men have been jailed for a double kidnapping which ended with armed police raiding a property in Northampton.

At around 6.30pm on December 8, 2021, two men in their twenties were kidnapped by Garcon Lala, Klej Doci and Gevin Pasha from a car park in Maiden Place, Lower Earley.

The victims had their phones taken from them and were driven to Northampton in two separate vehicles where they were held captive in a bedsit for five days.

At around 8am on December 13, 2021, a team of specialist armed police officers located the victims at an address in Hunter Street, Northampton.

Pasha was also in the address and attempted to attack officers with a pole before he was detained.

The victims were quickly located having been barricaded in the kitchen area of the bedsit using a sofa.

Pasha was arrested and both victims received medical treatment.

One of the victims had injuries consistent with cigarette burns to his hands as well as cuts and bruising to his head and body.

He also reported having been attacked with weapons on multiple occasions throughout his imprisonment as well as being deprived of food.

During the false imprisonment, Demiraj, who was described as the ringleader, had been making ransom demands to the victim’s family.

Prior to the kidnap, over the course of 2021, Demiraj and his associates blackmailed one of the victims for money over an alleged debt.

Threats escalated and before they expanded their focus to include his parents. They visited the family home and threatened to burn the house down.

Despite the family’s efforts to pay, the debt kept increasing which resulted in the eventual kidnap of their son.

Pasha was charged on December 14, 2021, Doci was charged on December 15, 2021 and Lala was charged on December 16, 2021.

The Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges for Demiraj on September 28, 2021 but he was no longer residing in the UK. This led to a joint international manhunt operation by the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, the National Crime Agency and international law enforcement partners.

Dutch authorities arrested Demiraj as he was attempting to cross from Belgium into the Netherlands on 4 November last year. He was then extradited back to the UK to stand trial.

Kica was charged by postal requisition on October 6, 2022.

At Reading Crown Court on December 12, the four men were jailed for a total of 44 years.

Erlind Demiraj, aged 32, of Orts Road, Reading, was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He was found guilty of one count each of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to blackmail on August 24, 2023. He pleaded guilty to one count of perverting the course of justice at the same court in February this year.

  • Garcon Lala, aged 28, of Eastern Road, Haringey, London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
  • Gevin Pasha, aged 22, of Gray Street, Northampton, was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He who was found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and one count each of conspiracy to blackmail, conspiracy to kidnap and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on August 24, 2023.
  • Klej Doci, aged 20, of St Margaret’s Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, was sentenced to five years in prison. He was found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and one count of conspiracy to kidnap on 24 August this year. He was found not guilty of one count of conspiracy to blackmail and common assault.
  • Gentjan Kica, aged 34, of Glenrosa Road, Reading, was found not guilty of one count of conspiracy to blackmail.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Helen Gilbert, of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “These four dangerous men will now face a significant period in prison to reflect on their criminal actions in this unacceptable incident.

“Thames Valley Police will never tolerate this sort of offending and this case shows that we will work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice.

“My thanks go to our colleagues at Northamptonshire Police for their support in rescuing the victims, as well as the National Crime Agency and our international law enforcement partners for detaining Erlind Demiraj in the Netherlands.”