Kidnap gang left their victim in the boot of his electric car after it ran out of power in botched burglary job

Published: 22:30, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 22:30, 17 July 2026 Burglars abandoned a man locked in the boot of his own car after the electric vehicle ran out of power. The 71-year-old was kidnapped by a gang who broke into his Torquay home after seeing posts of him wearing expensive watches on Instagram. He told a court he thought he was going to die as his hands were cable tied and his mouth taped up before he was put in the boot. The raiders planned to take him to an address in London where they believed more watches to be. Two of the gang, Altan O’Connell and Luke McInerney, then drove up the M5, but the battery ran low near Bridgwater.  They put the man in the boot, abandoned the car in a lane near Puriton, Somerset, and fled. The victim was able to free himself and get out of the boot, find the keys and use the last ounce of battery to get to a nearby shop where he raised the alarm. He was kidnapped after telling the men who broke into his home at 1am on January 26 that his watches had already been stolen.  Franklin O’Dwyer, 25, O’Connell, 27, McInerney, 31, Nicholas O’Dwyer, 56, Dwain Stratford, 35, and Karl Houghton, 36, all from Swindon, were sentenced to a combined 49 years at Exeter Crown Court this week. Franklin O’Dwyer, 25, O’Connell, 27, McInerney, 31, Nicholas O’Dwyer, 56, Dwain Stratford, 35, and Karl Houghton, 36, all from Swindon, were sentenced to a combined 49 years at Exeter Crown Court this week After police linked them to similar crimes across the South West, they admitted offences including kidnap, false imprisonment, burglary, drugs possession and handling stolen goods and counterfeit currency. Officers reviewed phones linked to the gang and found a number of search terms on Instagram linked to their crimes.  When arrested, officers found stolen vehicles, multiple watches, jewellery, designer handbags, drones and cash at various addresses.  Franklin O’Dwyer got ten years and five months for kidnap and burglary. O’Connell and McInerney each got 11 years and ten months. Nicholas O’Dwyer, Stratford and Houghton were jailed for six years and three months, four years and eight months, and four years respectively.