Supercar bandits who kidnapped wealthy Lamborghini driver at gunpoint in Cheltenham and handcuffed Ferrari owner’s lover in front of his terrified nine-year-old son are jailed for 27 years

Two supercar bandits who kidnapped a wealthy Lamborghini driver at gunpoint in Cheltenham and handcuffed a Ferrari owner’s lover in front of his terrified young son have been jailed for 27 years.

In one case, a man was kidnapped at gunpoint by a robber who visited his home and pretended to buy the victim’s £164,000 Lamborghini.

In another case, the frightened partner of a Ferrari owner was threatened with an imitation gun while he was handcuffed and their son managed to flee.

As they sat together on a couch, Mohammed Ali pulled out the gun and pointed it directly at him before a scuffle ensued and the victim’s partner was dragged away, the prosecutor said.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how Ali told a Lamborghini owner in Cheltenham that he was ‘worth £20 million’, but then pulled a gun on him, handcuffed him and ordered him to transfer £100,000 from his bank account.

The victim couldn’t do this as he didn’t have the money, so Ali managed to take £7,000, saying: ‘I thought you were a millionaire?’ and ‘is that all you have?’ before putting him in his car, driving him 76 miles to Stafford and leaving him there.

In a victim impact statement he told how he has now quit his job and his relationship with his partner has ended since the robbery last year.

Just two months after that crime, Ali and teenage co-suspect Muhamed Juwara committed the exact same crime against a couple in Nottinghamshire who sold their £170,000 Ferrari.

Jonathan Dee, prosecuting, said the robbery in Nottinghamshire took place in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in September 2022.

He said Ali agreed to meet the seller at his home to discuss purchasing the Ferrari. He and Juwara, who met while working in an Amazon warehouse, traveled from their homes in West Yorkshire with a plan to steal it from them.

The prosecutor said: ‘As they sat together on a sofa, Ali pulled out the gun, pointed it directly at him and told Juwara to “put cuffs on him”.

“Mr Juwara jumped on him and a scuffle ensued. The victim’s partner was dragged away by Ali, who was still holding the gun.

‘She had a chance to feel it and said, “It’s plastic” and she fought back, reaching for a vase. Their nine-year-old son, who had been upstairs, ran away and Juwara shouted ‘the boy is gone’.”

The prosecutor said evidence showed he committed the robbery and kidnapping in Gloucestershire two months earlier, when the victim advertised his Lamborghini supercar on the same website.

Ali contacted him claiming to be worth £20 million. He visited his home near Cheltenham, again produced an imitation rifle, threatened to kill the victim and tied him up.

He then drove him to Stafford, about 75 miles away, and left him there.

Ali, 39, of Willow Brook Manor, Wakefield, pleaded guilty to theft, attempted theft and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Juwara, 18, of Bayswater Road, Leeds, pleaded guilty to theft.

Mr Dee read out victim impact statements from all three people who were robbed.

The man from Nottinghamshire said: ‘It has changed me as a person, I don’t trust the people who come to my house anymore and I can’t see a future where I don’t think about this incident.’

In the photo: Muhamed Juwara. The prosecutor said: ‘As they sat together on a sofa, Ali pulled out the gun, pointed it directly at him and told Juwara to “put cuffs on him”. Mr. Juwara jumped at him and a scuffle ensued. The victim’s partner was dragged away by Ali, who was still holding the gun’

In her statement, his partner said: ‘I feel increasing anxiety and I feel nervous around others. I really thought I was going to die.’

The Gloucestershire man said the incident has had ‘a profound effect’ on his life.

He said: ‘I couldn’t feel safe in our own home and had to live in a hotel first. I am now withdrawn and struggling with trust issues. I resigned and my relationship ended.’

Paul Addison, speaking for Ali, said his client is married with a young child, and that he committed the robberies after falling into debt, having borrowed money from ‘unregulated’ sources.

He said: ‘It was a poor decision he made at a time when he knows he has lost his moral compass.’

Esther Harrison, for Juwara, said her client had come to Britain via Africa and Europe. She added that he lived in Leeds with his older brothers and that his father lives in Spain.

She said: ‘He was a hard-working young man who had a future but accepts he risked it for a very long time.’

Ali received an 18-year prison sentence and Juwara was sent to a juvenile detention center for nine years.

Judge William Harbage KC said: ‘Whether it was one offense or both offences, you are putting the householders involved through a terrifying and lengthy ordeal. In the Nottingham case you not only subjected one victim to an ordeal, but also his partner and child.

‘In both cases it must have been the householder’s worst nightmare to be attacked at gunpoint in their own home. The fear they felt can only be imagined.’

In a statement released when the pair were charged, Detective Inspector Paul Lefford, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘I would like to commend the investigating team, whose excellent work and resilience achieved this outcome for the victims. It required perseverance and teamwork to provide the best quality of service to the victim and protect the public.

“I hope the excellent work in this case demonstrates how seriously the force takes reports of robberies and how committed it is to reducing violence in our communities and protecting the public. Nottinghamshire Police will always investigate reports and work relentlessly to bring suspects to justice and seek justice for victims.”