A teenager and his grandfather acted like they were in a gangster movie when they abducted and stabbed a man over an unpaid debt, a sheriff said.
Craig Topen, 45, and Lennon Bruce, 21, were found guilty by a jury of the abduction, assault and robbery of Alexander Edgar in Dundee in August 2021.
The pair grabbed him off the street in broad daylight and bundled him into a van, before beating and stabbing him.
He was rescued by a “Good Samaritan” after being dumped.
Jailing Bruce for two years and Topen for 18 months, Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith said: “Frankly, your behaviour was reminiscent of a Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie movie.”
Victim ‘screamed for help’
Sheriff Niven-Smith said: “Mr Edgar said in evidence that he agreed to pay back the money he owed when he next got paid and he thought the matter should be over.
“Frankly, it should have been over.
“What transpired was a sustained course of conduct.
“Mr Topen drove after the victim in his van.
“Mr Bruce alighted and then Mr Edgar was bundled into the van.
“His friend heard him screaming for help and he said he feared for his life.
“That is no surprise given he was bundled into the vehicle and carted off against his will.
“The only motive for the attack, in broad daylight on the streets of Dundee, was that Mr Edgar owed you a sum of money.
“Whether it was as punishment or warning, either way you both jointly took it upon yourselves to abduct Mr Edgar and sought to take the law into your own hands.
“He was elbowed by Mr Topen and stabbed by Mr Bruce before being unceremoniously being dumped and then being rescued by a Good Samaritan.”
No empathy and ongoing danger
The sheriff noted Bruce had shown no empathy for his victim and would continue to pose a danger to the public of serious harm by violence.
He noted Topen continued to deny his guilt.
“Mr Topen, you have two adult children and your co-accused is your grandson, who looks upon you as his father.
“Mr Bruce should have been able to look to you, as a father figure, for pastoral guidance but you did not provide that.
“You knew Mr Edgar was a chronic and vulnerable drug user.
“Abduction within your van would have been a terrifying ordeal and would have led to psychological and physical trauma.”
Abducted and stabbed
The jury at Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Topen – who had a drug dealing charge against him dropped – ran into Mr Edgar in a Spar shop in the city.
There was a conversation between them before joiner Topen beckoned his grandson, who was 18 at the time, to come out of their work van to confront Mr Edgar.
The victim was issued with a warning but Topen decided to go further by getting in the van and chasing him before abducting him in broad daylight.
He was then beaten and stabbed before being dumped out of the Transit van by the duo who left him seriously injured in the road.
He was helped by a passer-by.
Topen and Bruce, both of Earn Crescent, Dundee, were found guilty of abduction and assault on 5 August 2021.
Topen has previously been jailed for 12 months for attacking a man with a golf club in the belief he had sold drugs to one of his sons.
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