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CRIME

Men get eight years for ‘sadistic’ kidnapping

Two men from western Sweden have been sentenced to eight years each in jail after they forced a man at needlepoint to sign over ownership of a car, a motorbike and a ride-on lawnmower.

The two men, 37 and 40, were found guilty by Varberg District Court of kidnapping, aggravated robbery and interference in a judicial matter, Hallands Nyheter reports.

According to the court, the crimes included “elements of humiliation and, to a certain extent, sadism.”

The victim, 45, was ambushed on his farm outside Varberg early one December morning last year.

He was beaten with a baseball bat and thrown into the cellar of his house. There he was nailed to a work bench and threatened with a pistol and a gas flame.

He was later forced at needlepoint to sign his name to a document handing over ownership of his car, motorbike and lawnmower to his assailants.

Once he had completed this task, his arm was injected with an overdose of heroin.

In its judgment, the court rejected the claims of one of the convicted men that they had come into possession of the goods by legal means.

That the victim “might have cooked up his story because he regretted a voluntary sale […] is in no way probable,” said the court.

LANDSLIDE

Swedish authorities: Worker negligence behind motorway landslide

Swedish authorities said on Thursday that worker negligence at a construction site was believed to be behind a landslide that tore apart a motorway in western Sweden in September.

Swedish authorities: Worker negligence behind motorway landslide

The landslide, which struck the E6 highway in Stenungsund, 50 kilometres north of Sweden’s second-largest city Gothenburg, ripped up a petrol station car park, overturned lorries and caved in the roof of a fast food restaurant.

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Prosecutor Daniel Veivo Pettersson said on Thursday he believed “human factors” were behind the landslide as “no natural cause” had been found during the investigation.

He told a press conference the landslide had been triggered by a nearby construction site where too much excavated material had been piled up, putting excessive strain on the ground below. 

“At this stage, we consider it negligent, in this case grossly negligent, to have placed so much excavated material on the site,” Pettersson said.

Pettersson added that three people were suspected of among other things gross negligence and causing bodily harm, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.

The worst-hit area covered around 100 metres by 150 metres, but the landslide affected an area of around 700 metres by 200 metres in total, according to emergency services.

Three people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after the collapse, according to authorities.

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