A violent loan shark who kidnapped one of his customers and threatened him with a machete was jailed for three-and-a-half years today.
Lee Walker, of Farmcote Road, Birmingham, was found guilty of kidnap, blackmail and assault at an earlier hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.
His 19-year-old son Christopher Walker was also sentenced to 12 months detention for his part in the attack last May.
The pair kidnapped Paul Whitehouse, who had fallen behind with payments on a #2,000 loan from Walker, from a bus stop in Birmingham and threatened him with a baseball bat and machete during an ordeal lasting more than three hours.
Mr Whitehouse was bundled into the back of a car and repeatedly punched in the face before being driven to 39-year-old Lee Walker’s home.
There, he was cut under the eye with a machete, threatened with baseball bats and told his ear would be cut off. At one point Lee Walker made Mr Whitehouse put his arm out on a table, then swung the machete down as if to cut his hand off, stopping the blade only inches above his wrist.
Passing sentence, Recorder Alun Jenkins said that although both men took part in the kidnap and assault, Lee Walker was more culpable for leading his son into the enterprise.
David Travers, for the Crown, said the prosecution came about as a result of a Government initiative to crack down on illegal money-lenders.
Officers from West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council trading standards raided Lee Walker’s home in March last year and found a hoard of counterfeit goods, including Nike trainers, Timberland T-shirts, Lacoste tracksuits and Benson & Hedges cigarettes, as well as thousands of CDs and DVDs.
Mr Travers said Lee Walker, who has a string of convictions for violent crime going back over 20 years, liked to think of himself as a local "wheeler dealer", and during interviews he told police openly that he was running an illegal money-lending service.
The court heard that when borrowers approached Walker for a loan, 50% would immediately be added as interest - so a loan of #200 would mean the borrower had to repay #300. On top of this, Walker added swingeing penalties for missed payments.
Mr Travers said the arbitrary nature of these penalties made it hard to calculate exactly the overall interest Walker charged on his loans, but the rate generally varied between 1,500% and 150,000%.
In mitigation, Lee Walker’s lawyer, Thomas Kenning, said his client had not enjoyed a lavish lifestyle from the proceeds of his criminal activity, and faced debts of up to #20,000 when he left prison.
In January, a jury at Birmingham Crown Court found Lee Walker guilty of kidnap, wounding, assault and blackmail. He pleaded guilty to running an illegal money-lending business and 10 counts of counterfeiting.
The same jury found Christopher Walker, of Swancote Road, Stetchford, Birmingham, guilty of kidnap and assault.
The prosecution was brought by the Birmingham Illegal Money-Lending Team, one of two pilot schemes funded by the Department of Trade and Industry to crack down on loan sharks.
Jacqui Kennedy, from Birmingham City Council trading standards, said: "It’s the end of a long and complex investigation, and we are pleased the judge said the illegal money-lending activity contributed to the jail term."
Ian McCartney, the Government’s Consumer Minister, said: "Another community can breathe more easily knowing that a violent parasite has been removed from their midst.
"It takes a real low-life to prey on the most vulnerable in our communities.
"I hope this sentence gives hope not just to this community in Birmingham but to the hundreds of people who live in fear of loan sharks."
