Three on kidnapping charges

Press, 31 January 1989, Page 16

Three on kidnapping charges

Kidnapping and wounding charges were heard in the District Court yesterday against two men and a woman. Shane Craig Bullen was alleged to have been beaten outside his workshop in Sydenham, then handcuffed and driven to Truscotts Road at Ferrymead in the boot of a car. He was then said to have been left there, with a plastic bag over his head, a rope across his neck and bound hand and foot. The defendants are Malcolm Robertson Hurst, aged 25, a guest-house manager (Miss J. A. Farish and Mr S. C. Barker), Martyn David Long, aged 24, a steel erector (Mr A. N. D. Garrett), and Lianne Karen Simpson, aged 20 (Mr R. z G. Glover). Each faces a preliminary hearing of charges of unlawfully carrying off Mr Bullen without his consent, with intent to cause him to be confined, on or about October 24; and with wounding Mr Bullen with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm. The. hearing, before Mrs C. M. Holmes and Mr D. Wilson, Justices of the

Peace, will end today. Mr Bullen, aged 24, a self-employed mechanic and panelbeater, said that at the time of the incident he lived above his workshop in Sydenham. He shared the living quarters with three others. On the evening of October 24 he was at home with a flatmate, Perry Le Compte. Three men and a woman arrived at 11.15 p.m. to see Mr Le Compte. Hurst and Long were two of the men. He was not sure who the woman was. Later, after being asked by Mr Le Compte, he went downstairs to let the visitors out through the workshop. As he opened the doors he was grabbed by the arms by Hurst and Long and beaten. He got some pretty hard whacks to his head with iron bars, or something like that. He believed these had been picked up from outside the workshop. Four men wre there, along with a woman, who had a butcher’s knife. While he was being taken outside, one of his assailants said they did

not trust him because he was Highway scum, or something. He took this to mean that he was associated with the Highway 61 gang. After being pushed out of the doors he was beaten around quite badly. He was hit on the head, legs, stomach, face, arms and elbows with something very hard. He stopped struggling and was taken along the street. He struggled again to try to free himself but fell to the ground. He was punched, kicked and smacked around again. His hands were handcuffed in front of him. He was then taken further along the street and put in a car boot and driven off. He had between $7OO and $BOO on him, and this was taken from his pocket outside his workshop. He could not see anything until he managed to get his cigarette lighter from his pocket. Using this, he found a small crescent spanner, and undid two of the three boot door-catch bolts, before the car stopped.

He was driven for about 10 to 15 minutes. He was taken out of the boot, the handcuffs were removed, and he was kicked around and beaten again. His arm was jumped on and he felt it break. By that stage he felt near unconsciousness. He was then tied up with a rope, which went across his neck, tied both hands' behind his back, and tied his feet which were pulled back. His neck, hands and feet “were all tied in sequence,” he said. “It seemed the more I moved the tighter it got. It was tight around my throat, and affected my breathing.” Threats were made to kill him, and cut his throat, and he was stabbed in an arm by a woman. A man then took the knife from her. He was asked where the money was kept in his workshop. He told them a place “where there was actually nothing.” Before the group left, a plastic bag was put over his head. He heard somebody say: “You stay there and watch him.” He counted the car doors closing and thought nobody was left there and

started to work his way across the road. He went through a fence and let himself roll down an embankment into a ditch. It took him until daybreak to get himself up out of the ditch and on to the side of the road, where he was later found. Cross-examined by Mr Garrett, Mr Bullen said more than three persons were involved in the incident. He said he had between $6OO and $7OO on him at the time as he had been paid for a job. Michael Dillon, a medical practitioner, said he examined Mr Bullen and found .injuries including a broken arm, broken and bloodied nose, sweling on the skull, swelling and bruising around the eyes, and bruising of. the trachea and chest wall. Cross-examined by Mr Glover, the doctor was asked about injuries sustained by Mr Bullen from an alleged assault earlier in October. He said Mr Bullen had many obvious fresh injuries. Staff of Ferrymead Historical Park gave evidence of finding Mr Bullen tied hands and feet and with a rope across his neck.

The rope was cut from him and he was taken to Ferrymead and given a drink; The police and an ambulance were called. Detective M. P. Brereton said he interviewed Simpson, who told of Hurst telephoning Mr Bullen, pretending to be somebody else, from Highway 61. He asked what Mr Bullen was going to do about that blond chick, Lianne. Mr Bullen replied they were going to take her out into the country and let the Highway 61 guys have a few turns with her. They were then going to "take care” of her. A reference was also made to concrete shoes. She listened in to the conversation and it freaked her out, and also freaked out Hurst. They were quite mad about it and decided to go round to deal with Mr Bullen. She told of later events in which she said Mr Bullen was hit and taken in a car boot to Ferrymead. Hurst was also, said to have told another detective of his involvement in the matter. He said Mr Bullen had been selling him drugs for the past fortnight.