Teen kidnapped in honeytrap escaped and snared his attacker with DNA from half-eaten Wispa bar
He saw his attacker eating a Wispa bar stolen from his backpack and found a way to grab it before he ran
A TEENAGER who was kidnapped and held to ransom in a honeytrap caught his attacker using a half-eaten chocolate bar.
Liam Courtney arranged to meet a girl at a flat in Birmingham - but was instead held hostage for three hours and threatened with a knife.
He managed to snare his kidnapper, Mohammed Islam, 18, by swiping a half-eaten Wispa bar that Islam had been chomping on before fleeing when he had a chance.
Islam has since been jailed for eight years, after admitting robbery, false imprisonment and blackmail.
Liam said: "I'd studied public services at college where we learnt about the police and forensics.
"I followed this girl up a flight of stairs and this guy appeared and the girl I was with ran off. He pulled a knife on me and forced me into a flat.
"He started going through my backpack and he took out my wallet, jacket, a packet of crisps, and a Wispa bar and just put everything on one side. He then started asking me how much money I had in my bank account.
"After he'd made me call my dad and demand money, he ate the crisps and half the Wispa before throwing it on the floor.
"I knew there'd be DNA on the Wispa, and I just kept thinking, 'If I can get my hands on that chocolate bar, that's really good'.
"He kept leaving the room, so I started counting how long he'd be gone before he came back. He left for an average of 30 seconds at a time, so I knew I needed to grab it straight away.
"He went out of the room, and I grabbed it as quick as I could before returning to where he'd left me. I just put it in my pocket.
"The Wispa bar ended up playing a huge part in my court case as it was DNA straight from the crime scene."
Liam met the girl at a flat in Druids Heath, Birmingham, but things quickly took a turn for the worse when they turned a corner and a man was waiting with a knife.
The girl fled and he hasn't heard from her since, leading him to believe it was a honeytrap.
Liam - who was 18 at the time - agreed to meet a girl he vaguely knew after chatting to her online.
He left to meet her at her flat in Druids Heath, Birmingham, on March 25 2016 without letting his
friends or family know where he was going.
He said: "I thought I was going to die.
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"The guy was going through my phone, telling me to ring people and ask for money.
"My dad managed to scrape £300 together after several phone calls. I've never heard sadness in his voice like it.
"The second time I rang him pleading for more money, the guy who was holding me hostage spoke to my dad and told him he would beat me up if he didn't send more money.
"Hearing my dad's voice so sad like that is the single most painful experience of my life."
His kidnapper withdrew all of the money Liam's dad had sent over and Liam saw his opportunity to escape, when he was left unattended in a lift as Islam tried to move him to a new location.
He said: "The guy said if I didn't meet him at the bottom of the stairs, he would chase me and kill me.
"With the amount of adrenaline pumping through my body, I reckoned I could outrun him.
"I counted to 30 seconds and he still wasn't there, so I ran out of the building and knocked on the first house I could.
"An elderly woman answered, I started to cry. She made me a cup of tea and rang the police."
The Wispa bar Liam took provided crucial evidence at Birmingham Crown Court, where Islam, 18, was sentenced to eight years.
Liam has since quit his job working in a convenience store because he's too anxious about confronting shoplifters, in case they are carrying a knife.
He has tried to overcome the trauma himself but is now seeking victim support.
He said: "I've always sorted my own problems out, I'm a lone wolf. But I can't get over this.
"It's left me unable to trust my community and I can't approach girls anymore.
"I can't even ask them for their number, and I don't think I'll ever get over that.
"I'd just say to anyone meeting someone to let your friends and family know where you are going and who you are meeting.
"You never know what's going to happen."
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