British Couple Arrested on Fake Kidnapping Charge

Officers from the Guardia Civil have arrested two British nationals in Guardamar del Segura accused of organising a fake kidnapping.

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The supposed victim was the daughter of a couple from Manchester and was the girlfriend of the alleged perpetrator.

The “kidnapper” sent SMS messages and emails to the girl´s parents threatening to kill her, unless the sum of 5,000 pounds was received.

The messages also included pictures of the girl having apparently suffered injury with bruises to her body and locked in a room.

The parents complained to the UK police without knowing that the kidnapping was a fake, believing the threatening and frightening messages to be genuine and that their daughter was at risk.

The British National Crime Agency collaborated with the Guardia Civil to investigate the facts, resulting in the Guardia Civil identifying the property involved and concluding that the kidnapping was in fact false.

One of the two people arrested, the male, was already being known to the UK police for previous offences. They were brought before the courts in Torrevieja.