Briton convicted of kidnapping of Scots in Algarve

My friends, this was taken from Jornal de Notícias newspaper:

http://www.jn.pt/PaginaInicial/Seguranca/Interior.aspx?content_id=3311644&page=-1

Briton convicted of kidnapping of Scots in Algarve

The Englishman Matthew Conde, the sixth accused involved in the kidnapping and torture of a Scottish citizen in the Algarve, in 2010, was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Court of Loulé.

The rest of the group had already been convicted a year ago, in Loulé, but Matthew Earl found himself, at the time, held in England, where he fled when he learned that others had been arrested in Portugal.

The accused was convicted for the crimes of murder and an attempted aggravated kidnapping, and the judge who delivered the judgment classified the case as "worse than a horror movie."

The case dates back to October 5, 2010, the day that James Ross landed in Portugal attracted by a false promise of work and was taken to a villa near Boliqueime, where he was tortured and held captive.

After 13 days, the defendant now condemned, 26, freed the Scots, for fear the action of the Portuguese authorities, who had held the other group members.

However, the fact that the victim has been released "irrelevant" to the court since, according to the judge, not freed Matthew Earl Ross, "just abandoned to their fate," not having called an ambulance or the police.

For the court, there was an "inhumane treatment" from Matthew Conde for the victim, since he could have ended several days before the kidnapping, preventing Ross remained "in a state of unbelievable suffering."

Despite having been acquitted of the crime of offense to the physical integrity, for not having been able to prove that Matthew Conde participated in acts of torture, to the court which proved "very serious" and "worse than a movie of terror. "

According to the judge who delivered the judgment, "almost can not believe" what happened to the victim, even in great pain without an ear and other body parts, was imprisoned every day.

Matthew Conde was arrested in England since October 2011, pursuant to an international arrest warrant, but was extradited to Portugal in August last year, where he continued in custody in Lisbon.

The leader of the group, Steven Johnson, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the heaviest penalty applied to the five defendants, who were sentenced to 15, eight and two and half years.

The penalty only nine and a half years applied to Matthew Earl is the legal height for an attempted murder (seven years), aggravated kidnapping (seven years).

According to the judgment last year, Johnson was not initially planned to kill James Ross, but this hypothesis began to be considered when one became an "unsolved problem".

At the behest of the group's leader, James Ross came to be taken in a car to the Santa Clara Dam, Alentejo, to be killed, but the driver of the vehicle, Terence McGurck, dropped the plan.

The second heavier penalty of 15 years in prison, was applied to Calum McLeod, who co-authored with Steven Johnson, subjected James Ross to severe torture and mutilation, the court considered.

Ah yes, that horror story. I seem to recall the police had assumed he was dead and stopped looking for him, so were rather surprised when he tottered into town with various body parts missing.

yes bb1.