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Taxpayer to foot kidnap bill after case is dropped

Fri, 26 Jun 2015

Taxpayers will foot the legal bills of four men from England who have been acquitted of kidnap.

At Douglas Courthouse yesterday the case against Muhammad Khan, Amman Sohail, Zishaan Sharif and Abdul Ahad was dropped.

The men from Bradford and Burnley, who are aged between 20 and 25, were accused of travelling to the Island last October to take a man back to England against his will.

All four were kept on remand at the Isle of Man Prison until April and were due to stand trial after pleading not guilty to the offence.

However the court heard the complainant had refused to give evidence with prosecution saying its "hands were tied" and it was therefore offering no evidence.

Passing judgement Deemster Montgomerie told the court the four men were "innocent in the eyes of the law" and ordered defence cost orders to be made for Khan, Sohail and Sharif.

The ruling means their legal expenses will be paid out of "central funds" - no order was made for Ahad whose costs will be met through the Legal Aid system. 

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