A witness in the trial of two men accused of abducting a 17-year-old boy has told a court about the moment a red-hot iron was held against the alleged victim’s skin.
Jodie Forman, 33, and Bobby Hendry, 31, both from Fraserburgh, are facing a charge that they befriended the teenager at a party before taking him back to a flat where they bound him to a chair with tape and held a hot clothes iron to his body.
Forman is also accused of a separate charge of stabbing a 21-year-old in the foot before searing his arm with a hot iron.
On day two of their trial Liam Ramsey, 24, took to the witness stand and said he was present in the Fraserburgh flat when the alleged crime took place in the early hours of July 5 2020.
He told fiscal depute Lynne MacVicar he had been at an all-night lockdown party at Forman’s flat but the “vibe” quickly changed once all the drugs had run out.
The witness alleged that Forman locked the front door before he and Henry bound the teenager around the ankles, torso and head with masking tape.
‘I just remembered his face shrieking’
Foreman, Mr Ramsey claimed, then produced an iron, which he plugged in and heated to the point where “it was hissing and steam was coming out”.
Mr Ramsey said Foreman then touched the iron to the skin of the teenager for around three to five seconds.
“I just remembered his face shrieking,” Mr Ramsey said.
“It was sort of like a silent scream he was trying to let out but it wouldn’t come out – he was obviously going through a lot of pain.
“I remember his hands clenching and his feet tensing up.
“I was standing up and thinking: what is actually happening at this point?
“It went from a joke, a little bit of bullying and character building, to a crime being committed.
“I realised that a big situation was going on at this point.
“As soon as he’d been burned with an iron I thought: he’s been assaulted with a serious weapon.
“He’s been tied up, the door has been locked – this is the whole shebang that’s happened in the space of five minutes.”
The witness claimed that the teenager was then untied by Forman and Hendry and quickly fled the flat.
Fraserburgh abduction trial: Read day one’s evidence HERE
Mr Ramsey also accused the pair of later attempting to implicate him in the offence.
“I remember Jodie saying this was going to get back to the police at some point,” he said.
“He told me to say ‘no comment’ to the police and all the rest of it.
“Then I was threatened to be framed for this whole carry on because he [the alleged victim] was blindfolded.
“If I was ever to grass them in for it they would blame me or frame me for it – they were scared and uncertain what was going to come out of this.”
During cross-examination, Forman’s defence agent Iain Jane questioned Mr Ramsey about the fact that he had, by his own admission, lied to the police in his initial police statement and claimed he was not at the flat that night.
Mr Jane said: “In a nutshell, you wanted to lie to the police so that these men here wouldn’t be prosecuted, but also so you wouldn’t get into trouble?”
Mr Ramsey replied: “Obviously he was blindfolded during the whole thing and they had threatened to frame me for the whole scenario.
“I thought that was a plausible outcome, considering he was blindfolded, and I was scared and that’s why I did the wrong thing – but here I am doing the right thing now.”
Blood spatter found by police at accused’s home
Constable Alan Mitchell also gave evidence relating a separate claim by another alleged victim that at a flat on Grey Street, Fraserburgh, on August 12 2020 Forman plunged a knife into his foot “without warning”.
The alleged victim, now 23, also claims Forman then arrived from another room with a hot iron, which was then placed across his arm.
Constable Mitchell told the court that during a police search of Forman’s home, blood splatters were found on the entrance stairway and living room.
However, Pc Mitchell said that this blood was never tested.
It was also claimed that a knife matching the description given by the witness was found behind Forman’s couch.
Pc Mitchell said that during a subsequent police interview Forman told him that he had “never owned an iron”.
Both Forman and Hendry deny abducting the 17-year-old and assaulting him to his permanent disfigurement.
Forman also denies a single additional charge of assaulting the other man by striking him with a knife, placing a hot iron on his body and repeatedly punching him to the head.
The trial, before Sheriff Andrew Miller, continues.
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