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Friends Xin Wang and Haoyi Wang, both 21, kidnapped Chinese student Gang Zhang, 23, at knifepoint from the suburban Box Hill home in Melbourne he shared with Xin Wang in July 2003. The kidnappers, along with two unidentified accomplices, handcuffed Mr Zhang to a bed in a Hawthorn house, gagged, blindfolded and repeatedly bashed him for eight days. They eventually released him in a Box Hill park. Victorian County Court Judge John Smallwood today said Mr Zhang's captors forced the Hawthorn Language School student to reveal his banking personal identification number before withdrawing $25,000 from his account. They also forced him to arrange for his parents to send money from China. Advertisement: In total, Mr Zhang's captors stole almost $80,000. Judge Smallwood said the motives for such a "disgraceful crime" appeared to be Mr Zhang's refusal to loan money to an unidentified person. "What followed seems so extreme that I find it hard to accept," he said. "There can be many types of false imprisonment and kidnapping - this is a particularly ugly one." After the incident, Mr Zhang returned home to mainland China, where he was diagnosed with malnutrition. Xin Wang was arrested when police raided an East Brunswick house. His co-offender was caught trying to flee the country. The pair pleaded guilty to one count each of kidnapping, false imprisonment, intentionally causing serious injury and theft. Xin Wang was jailed for seven years, with a minimum term of three years and six months, while Haoyi Wang was sentenced to five years' jail with a minimum of two years and nine months. [ Last edited by horseanddragon on 2005-10-5 at 04:07 PM ] |
