Teens Terrorised in Northampton Kidnap and Blackmail Spree
On August 11, 2021, 19-year-old Aramis Sullivan targeted a 17-year-old boy on a footbridge between Fishponds Road and Valley Road, Northampton. Sullivan asked for cannabis, but when refused, he warned an accomplice, “There is a lad coming over, he has a good tracksuit on, it looks like he has a good amount of money.”
Shocking Woodland Kidnap and £200 Ransom
The teenage victim was then forced by another man to accompany them to a nearby wooded area where Sullivan awaited. Sullivan threatened the boy and forced him to call his parents for money. The boy’s mother had to travel to the scene and pay £200 to secure her son’s release.
Next Day, Two Men Held at McDonald’s Then Forced on £1,000 Drive
On August 12, Sullivan teamed up with 25-year-old Brandon Southall and targeted two young men inside a McDonald’s in Drapery, Northampton. They intimidated the pair, made them leave, and forced them to drive to Coventry under threat of harm. The pair demanded £1,000, which the victims partially raised from friends and family before having to withdraw the rest by bank transfer.
The victims were then taken to a house in Birmingham before being ordered to drive back to Northampton. They were held and driven around for about six hours before managing to escape when the suspects stepped out of the car.
Long Prison Terms for Sullivan and Southall after Guilty Pleas
Sullivan pled guilty to three counts of blackmail and two of kidnap. In February this year, he was jailed for five years and three months. He also received an extra 12 months for robbing a schoolboy in Watford, where he forced the victim to withdraw money under threat. Additional sentences for attempted robbery and fraud added another 12 months, to run consecutively.
Southall pled guilty to two counts each of kidnap and blackmail. He was sentenced in April to four and a half years. He also received multiple sentences for crimes in Birmingham and Leicestershire, including a 42-month term for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and six months for making indecent images of children. Southall must serve a total of 11 years and is on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.
