Vigilante brothers abducted boys, 11 and 12, to ‘give them a fright' after parents' home vandalised

Scottish Sun

06-06-2025

The pair told the 'terrified' youngsters they were 'going to batter them'
TERRIFYING ORDEAL Vigilante brothers abducted boys, 11 and 12, to 'give them a fright' after parents' home vandalised
A PAIR of vigilante brothers abducted two schoolboys in retribution for their parents' livingroom window being smashed by vandals.
John, 53, and Richard Saunders, 50, grabbed the boys, aged 12 and 13, inside a Co-Op shop, and took them for a "terrifying" drive in their car.
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Richard Saunders and his brother John grabbed the boys after their parents' window was smashed
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John Saunders said he and his brother acted after weeks of youngsters "causing havoc"
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Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard the Saunders brothers took the law into their own hands
Credit: Alamy
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard the Saunders brothers took the two boys' mobile phones off them to prevent them from calling for help whilst detaining them inside their car.
After being bundled into the back of the vehicle and driven off the Saunders brothers told the "terrified" youngsters they were 'going to batter them'.
The court was told the pair had reacted after weeks of young people "causing havoc" in the area where their parents lived.
John, of Kenilworth Terrace and Richard, of Melrose Gardens, both Lochore, admitted abducting and assaulting the two boys on September 30.
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They seized and pulled them by the body, removed them from a shop, struck one of them on the head and abducted both of them by forcing them into a vehicle and driving them away.
The brothers drove around during the frightening ordeal, telling the children they were "giving them a fright", before dropping them off.
At 9.45pm the mum of one of the boys heard a car pull up outside.
The court heard John Saunders was pulling her boy by the jumper and told the mum what had happened.
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The prosecutor told the court Saunders said that his mum's window had been smashed and that it had "been going on for months".
Asked if he had anything to say to the court, John Saunders, who was representing himself, said, 'The window wasn't cracked, it was shattered and smashed.
Rachael Watts, who breaks her thirty-year silence to share her story for the first time on camera revealing how she survived a brutal abduction and assault
'I got a call from my parents to say their window had been smashed and as I drove to their house, I saw them (the boys) walking from there towards the Co-op.
'When I went into the house my mum was so upset and I didn't know what to do.
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'I went to look for them and they were in the shop like nothing had happened.'
Saunders said the boys had told them that someone from Cardenden had also been there at the time and so they had gone looking for him at bus stops.
Saunders told the court, 'I realised what I was doing was wrong' and he then took the boys home.
Solicitor David McLaughlin, representing Richard Saunders, said his client was a hard-working family man with two grown-up children and had never been involved in a court case before.
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He went on, 'The background is that youngsters within the area were effectively causing havoc and had been picking on the brothers' mother and father for a number of weeks.
'On this occasion the window was shattered and it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
'He lost his temper and it was a spur of the moment thing. He and his brother made poor decisions.
'He acknowledges he stepped out of line and appears to show genuine remorse. As he put it, 'two wrongs don't make a right'.'
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Sheriff Steven Borthwick said he acknowledged that the brothers' actions were out of character.
He told them, 'Both of you were very concerned for the well-being of your parents, were angry and wanted to do something about it.
'However, it is completely unacceptable to do what you did. That's the sort of offence that leads to the serious consideration of the imposition of a custodial sentence.
'It's simply not acceptable for civilians to take the law into their hands, especially when children are involved.'
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He sentenced both brothers to a community payback order with 150 hours of unpaid work.