Christopher Rogers and Ryan Turner jailed for forcing victim to jump from bridge in Ramsgate
09:30, 03 March 2017
Two callous vigilantes who forced a teenager to jump 20ft from a bridge onto concrete have been jailed today.
Terrified victim Zak Williams plunged from The Chine at the Westcliff in Ramsgate, breaking his ankle and wrist and causing a head injury.
The pair then left the badly injured 19 year old, who had to crawl to a nearby road to raise the alarm before being taken to hospital.
Former stripper Christopher Rogers, 30, and Ryan Turner, 29, both of Auckland Avenue, Ramsgate were convicted by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Deputy Circuit Judge Christopher Critchlow told them: “You decided to take the law into your own hands and your victim was so frightened by the threats you made about beating him up he went over the bridge.
"What took place was totally wrong and then you left him there which was callous.”
Rogers was jailed for three and a half years and his pal for two years and three months.
But the two – who chose not to give evidence at the trial – were acquitted of abducting their victim.
Mr Williams had told how the pair had come to his home in August last year.
He said he was in the loft when the men climbed a ladder and ordered him to leave his home and hand over his mobile phone.
Mr Williams got into the back of a car driven by Rogers along Rockstone Way, Bengal Road, into Auckland Avenue before stopping at Manston.
Prosecutor Silas Reid said: “What these two men did was to take the law into their own hands. It was inexcusable. They wanted to mete out their own form of justice. This was vigilantism.
“During the car journey they made threats to stab him and that they would bury him and made comments about them looking to find a shovel."
Mr Reid told how they took Mr Williams to a cliff in Ramsgate and told him: “There you go... you are going to have to jump now!”
Mr Williams said it was too high so they took him to The Chine bridge and allegedly told him to jump.
The prosecutor claimed: “They told him he had to jump. They said he might survive with two broken legs. But if he jumped and could still walk then he would have to jump again.
“Understandably he didn’t want to jump but the two men told him if he didn’t jump they would batter him and stab him, and so he jumped," the prosecutor claimed.
Mr Reid said Mr Williams was seriously injured and needed treatment for a fractured right heel and broken right wrist after landing on the concrete slabs.
The jury took nearly six hours to acquit the pair, who have spent six months in custody awaiting trial, of the more serious charges of kidnap, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a knife.
There were audible gasps in the public gallery after each acquittal – but then the jury convicted the pair of inflicting grievous bodily harm by a majority of 10 to 2.
After the verdicts, Rogers pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis in October 2015.
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