Kidnap plot on sunshine isle (From Gazette Series)

Kidnap plot on sunshine isle

TWO Cromhall men could be facing 25 years in a Barbados prison for their part in an alleged kidnapping at the weekend.

Damien Henson, 31, and his brother Adam, 24, were allegedly involved in the kidnapping of John Watts, 49, of Stroud, and 38-year-old Annaclaudia DiEnjoy, of Spain, on Saturday.

The men were part of a gang of four Britons allegedly hired by John Watts' brother Arthur, 40, also from Stroud. The other men involved have been named as Jason Foster, 37, and Stuart Williams, 25, both from Thornbury.

All five men have been accused of kidnapping and the wrongful confinement of a British national.

The alleged incident started on Saturday morning when police received several reports that two people had been forced into a car at Church Village, St Philip, following a car chase.

The gang are then alleged to have taken John and his girlfriend to the Sunset Crest resort in western Barbados.

Following police investigations, lawmen executed a search warrant on Sunday at a house in Sunset Crest, where the five men were arrested. It is thought the gang arrived on the Caribbean island on June 15 and were scheduled to depart yesterday.

The incidents at the weekend are thought to have stemmed from a £6 million inheritance by the Watts brothers from their father, Geoffrey, who died in 1995 after a successful engineering career.

He was director of more than 60 companies and when he died he left a fortune in shares to his children. Much of the fortune was lost after the stock market crash following September 11 but John is believed to have saved some of the money and it is believed that Arthur wanted his brother to sign over a portion.

Arthur Watts' wife, Jane, a national newspaper: "This has been a feud lasting five years and we want to sort it out in the family."

The Henson brothers appeared at Bridgetown Magistrates Court, Barbados, yesterday with the other three men. All were remanded in custody. If convicted they face the maximum life sentence.