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Woman jailed for kidnapping boy Woman jailed for kidnapping boy
(about 1 hour later)
A mother who hired an armed gang from New York to kidnap a 10-year-old boy has been jailed for 15 years.A mother who hired an armed gang from New York to kidnap a 10-year-old boy has been jailed for 15 years.
Dawn Fields, of Clapham, south London, was found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and blackmail last week.Dawn Fields, of Clapham, south London, was found guilty of kidnap, false imprisonment and blackmail last week.
Fields, 26, hired four men from Brooklyn to carry out the crime, Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court heard. Fields, 26, hired three men from Brooklyn to carry out the crime, Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court heard.
The 10-year-old's ordeal began when £350,000 cash which had been wired from the US by Ms Fields' partner, Adonis Perez, was thought to have been stolen. The boy was taken after Fields wrongly thought a person who lived with the child had stolen £350,000 which has been sent to her to be laundered.
The court heard Fields' American boyfriend sent the money to the UK.
Kiss goodbyeKiss goodbye
The court heard Fields' American boyfriend sent the money to the UK to be laundered. Wrongly convinced the person that had taken the money lived with the child's family, Fields hired the three Americans, paid their flights to Heathrow and ordered them to return with either the money or the child.
Fields, who, according to her diary, initially prayed to God to have the money returned to her lover, turned to more violent means when the spiritual route proved unsuccessful. The gang tricked their way into the child's home in Walthamstow, north-east London, and ransacked the property before forcing the child to kiss goodbye to his mother.
When a child becomes 'collateral'When a child becomes 'collateral'
She launched an investigation and eventually identified a culprit, the court heard. Convinced he would be shot if he resisted, he was then driven blindfolded to the gang's "stronghold" a few hundred yards from New Scotland Yard. Fields had demanded a £100,000 ransom for his release.
Wrongly convinced he lived with the child's family, she then hired the three Americans, paid their flights to Heathrow and ordered them to return with either the money or the child. His ordeal lasted two days before armed police rescued him from a locked bathroom after storming the property.
The gang tricked their way into the child's home in Walthamstow, north east London, and ransacked the property before forcing the child to kiss goodbye to his mother. Passing sentence, Judge Simon Smith said to Fields: "It is no good expecting to be given a lighter sentence because you have a two-year-old daughter when you organised the kidnap of somebody else's 10-year-old son."
His ordeal lasted two days before armed police rescued him from a locked bathroom after storming the property using flash and stun grenades.
The boy's ordeal lasted two days as Fields demanded a £100,000 ransom for his release.
Passing sentence, Judge Simon Smith said of Fields: "It is no good expecting to be given a lighter sentence because you have a two-year-old daughter when you organised the kidnap of somebody else's 10-year-old son."
Jeriah Simpson, 21, Fields' half-brother, was the gang's getaway driver and found guilty of the same charges. He was given10 years.Jeriah Simpson, 21, Fields' half-brother, was the gang's getaway driver and found guilty of the same charges. He was given10 years.
Brooklyn gang leader Edwin Phillip, 22, who was branded "evil" by the judge, received 13 years, while his "willing foot soldiers" Damien Francis and Gadwell Gibbs, both 24, were each jailed for 12 years.Brooklyn gang leader Edwin Phillip, 22, who was branded "evil" by the judge, received 13 years, while his "willing foot soldiers" Damien Francis and Gadwell Gibbs, both 24, were each jailed for 12 years.