Judge warns thug involved in 'honeytrap' attack not to take revenge on friends

Yahoo

3 days ago

A thug has been warned by a judge not to take revenge on his one-time friends who involved him in a sick 'honeytrap' attack.
David Bambrough allowed his flat in Small Heath to be used by associates Daniel Aston, Steven Baker, his son Matthew Baker and Shannon Wolleter to beat up Anthony Cooper after they kidnapped him on October 3, 2021.
He also joined in the attack by kicking the victim, for which he admitted assault, but was the only one spared jail last month.
READ MORE: Face of 'obsessive' ex-boyfriend who tormented two women and cut one's hair
Meanwhile, the other four were sent down having admitted more serious offences of kidnap and unlawful wounding.
Bambrough, aged 41, and now from Moseley, was back at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, August 5, along with Matthew Baker, in order to be made the subject of a restraining order banning them from contact with Mr Cooper.
During the hearing Judge Dean Kershaw confirmed he had received information from 'various sources' alleging that Bambrough had made comments about 'wanting to get people who had got him into this'.
He told Bambrough he was 'fortunate' to receive a suspended sentence but he would 'review whether rehabilitation is the right course' if there were further issues.
Addressing his barrister Judge Kershaw said: "I want to be clear, please explain to him, do the sentence I imposed and put it behind him."
He further clarified that it had not been Mr Cooper or any of the other defendants that had made accusations against Bambrough.
It is understood he had been overhead making comments upon leaving court following his sentencing last month.
Mr Cooper had been friends with his attackers and even worked at the same charity as them.
But Steven Baker turned on him due to being unhappy that he was in a relationship with a woman named Bethany Love, who he supposedly saw as a daughter.
There was also an allegation Mr Cooper was in debt for £150 to Aston.
Consequently Baker, his son Matthew Baker, and Aston concocted a plot to kidnap him.
They used Aston's then girlfriend Wolleter to lure him to a spot on the street by acting as a 'honeytrap' and pretending she fancied him.
Once they succesfully abducted Mr Cooper they brutally beat him up over the course of the next few hours before dropping him back near his home.
He had been smacked in the head with a tyre iron, punched, kicked and threatened with a knife to his throat while Wolleter and stamped on his genitals as a final insult to injury.
FULL STORY: 'Chop your legs off' - Full story of honeytrap plot sparked by Facebook post
But their attack was as clumsy as it was vicious and they left a trail of evidence linking them to the assault.
Aston, aged 33, of no fixed address, was sentenced to five years and eight months albeit he has already been released having been remanded into custody at an early stage.
Wolleter, aged 30, of Orchard Way in Trowbidge, Wiltshire, received two years and ten months.
Steven Baker, 61, of Runcorn Road, Balsall Heath, and Matthew Baker, 29, of Tynedale Road, Tyseley, were both jailed for three years and nine months.
Bambrough was sentenced to six months suspended, including 35 days of rehabilitation activity and 100 hours of unpaid work.
Steven Baker was excused from attending Tuesday's restraining order hearing for health reasons but his barrister accepted the prosecution's application in his absence.
Wolleter and Aston will be called to court to be made subject to the same order at a later date, albeit they remain behind bars.