Last year, a poker player was the victim of a brutal kidnap and torture in Salford, a borough of Manchester, England, and this morning, the last of his attackers was sentenced to a lengthy jail term. The gang of thugs had kidnapped Thai Binh Dong at gunpoint and tortured him for seven hours. The event started off hopefully: the thugs, who had hoped to soak Dong for some cash, had smashed in the window of his Volkswagen Golf and the pro had bolted away.
He’d thought he’d shaken them off, but they’d followed him to a side street off Oldfield Road in Salford and bundled him into their vehicle. That was just the start of an ordeal that can only be described as horrifying. Dong, 27, had boiling water poured over his legs and was told: “It’s £150,000 for your life.” Turns out they’d been tracking the poker player’s movements for months and knew he had won £30,000 in poker tournaments. He was visiting an apartment owned by his family in Middlewood Street, Salford, when they struck.
Thankfully for the prosecution, CCTV cameras caught the whole thing and the four men were later caught. Ashley Clarke, of Stretford, maintained his innocence until the second day of his trial. He was jailed for 11 years after admitting kidnap, false imprisonment, wounding with intent, and blackmail. Alexander Valensky, of Ashton-under-Lyne, pleaded guilty to the same charges. He was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, alongside Clarke, in July last year. In March last year, Clifton Cameron, of Bolton, pleaded guilty to the same charges and was jailed for 11 and a half years.
Today say the prosecution of Isaac Hodges of Droylsden, who will get ten years for his role in the kidnapping and burglary and an additional six months to run concurrently for dangerous driving.
For Mr. Dong, however, England no longer feels safe, and left a statement that read as follows:
“I left England and had to cut myself off from my family, friends, and my job. I have no idea why this happened to me. Someone must have told these guys that I’ve got money when I haven’t. “It’s a hobby and I’ve never fallen out with anyone over poker and I don’t know anyone on the poker circuit that would do this to me,” he said.
A sad story, to be sure, even if his captors were caught and are now all in jail.
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