Man jailed for more than six years for kidnapping a police officer

A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to six-and-a-half-years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping a police officer following an incident in Northampton earlier this year.

Leon Adam Turay, previously of Shakespeare Road in Northampton, was also ordered to serve a further five years on extended licence when he appeared at Northampton Crown Court last Wednesday (December 14).

At about 5.15am on Sunday, March 13 this year, police officers came across a vehicle parked in Wellingborough Road, near to the junction with Palmerston Road, with its engine running and a man who appeared to be asleep at the wheel.

The officers woke Turay and asked him to get out of the car, which he eventually did leaving the engine running. He appeared to be intoxicated and unsteady on his feet, which prompted the officers to breathalyse him.

Turay refused to take the test at first however, eventually agreed but asked if he could turn the car’s engine off first. As did this, he got back behind the wheel and drove off at speed with one of the officers still holding onto the door.

The officer was pulled along at high-speed before he was able to climb inside the car, however despite being asked to stop repeatedly, Turay continued to drive dangerously through several streets before he eventually crashed his car in Cheyne Walk.

Turay decamped from the car but was arrested shortly afterwards in Beckett’s Park and was subsequently charged with various offences including false imprisonment, dangerous driving, assault by beating of an emergency worker and kidnapping.

At an earlier court hearing on September 30, Turay pleaded not guilty to false imprisonment, dangerous driving, and assault by beating of an emergency worker. However, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping.

Last Wednesday, he received an extended sentence of 139 months and was ordered to pay £190 victim surcharge in relation to the kidnapping offence, while all other charges were ordered to remain on court file.

Following sentencing, lead investigator, PC Luisa Garcia Webb of the West Local Policing CID team, said: “This was an extremely serious and dangerous incident and I hope Turay is aware, that as result of his recklessness, he is fortunate that his actions did not cause serious injury or death to a serving police officer.”