Brothers jailed for Nando's kidnap ordeal

Brothers Bilal and Zachariya Rakik have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms after a five-hour kidnapping ordeal in Lewisham. The pair lured a stranger, Ali Almafraji, to a Nando's restaurant using a fabricated dating profile before holding him at gunpoint and demanding a ransom of £30,000. The incident concluded with a rescue by the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad.

The honeytrap plot

The Rakik brothers targeted Mr. Almafraji, believing him to be wealthy, according to reports. They created a fake profile on the Azar video chat application, using a photograph of an attractive woman, to arrange a meeting with Mr. Almafraji outside Nando's on Lewisham High Street. When Mr. Almafraji arrived around 10pm on September 10, 2023, he found the profile deleted and initially assumed he had been stood up. However, shortly after, the brothers, wearing balaclavas and surgical gloves, entered his car.

They produced what was described as a realistic imitation of a semi-automatic handgun, holding it against Mr. Almafraji's back and threatening to kill him by sunrise if £30,000 was not paid. During the five hours they drove him around south-east London, they accessed his phone and contacted four friends to demand the ransom. Judge Martin Yale characterised the events as a 'terrifying ordeal' for Mr. Almafraji.

Police intervention and sentencing

Mr. Almafraji's friends alerted the police, which led to the intervention of the Met Police's Flying Squad. Judge Yale commended the Flying Squad for their 'skill, speed, efficiency and most of all, bravery'. Officers tracked Mr. Almafraji's car, eventually locating it in Ladywell at 4:20 am. As dawn approached, the Flying Squad forced the car to stop, smashed the windows, and extracted Mr. Almafraji to safety.

Bilal Rakik received a sentence of seven years and two months, while Zachariya Rakik was sentenced to seven years and one month. Both brothers, who have no prior convictions, have been in custody since their arrest. The court was informed that the kidnapping was motivated by financial gain, and their defence submitted that they expressed remorse and had learned a significant lesson.