Levi Burton, Lorna Swyer, Tarelle Thompson, Reece Armstrong and Sebastian Love

BALACLAVA KIDNAP HORROR: Five Jailed After Man Abducted, Tortured and Sexually Assaulted in Chilling Multi-County Ordeal

It started with a neighbour’s worst fear — masked men in balaclavas dragging a 38-year-old man away from his own street — and within hours the case would unravel into one of the most disturbing kidnap investigations Surrey and Sussex detectives had faced in years.

What exactly did this group believe they could get away with?

The alarm was raised on 26 April 2025 in Dorking when a concerned neighbour reported seeing the victim forcibly taken by a group of men wearing face coverings. Officers from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team quickly launched an urgent investigation, fearing the man’s life could be in immediate danger.

Police later established that the victim had been transported to an address in Reigate. What happened next would be described in court as deeply traumatic. The man was blindfolded, force-fed against his will, and deliberately terrorised by two agitated dogs used to intimidate him. Investigators said the ordeal was designed to break his resistance and heighten his fear.

But the suffering did not stop there.

Officers revealed the victim was then moved again — this time to a separate location in Hampshire — where he endured a prolonged physical assault along with a sexual attack. The coordinated nature of the movements across counties pointed to a planned conspiracy rather than a spontaneous act of violence.

As the victim was being held, pressure was being applied elsewhere.

The following day, the victim’s brother began receiving multiple threatening phone calls. The callers made demands in exchange for the man’s release, confirming detectives’ fears that the kidnapping was being used as leverage. Police worked rapidly to trace communications and locations linked to the suspects.

Later that same day, officers located the victim at an address in Farnborough. While he had survived the ordeal, the psychological and physical impact was significant, and the case was immediately escalated as a major organised investigation.

Detectives moved quickly.

Levi Burton, 31, Lorna Swyer, 21, Tarelle Thompson, 28, and Reece Armstrong, 30, were all arrested and charged in connection with the kidnap plot. A fifth suspect, Sebastian Love, 21, was later identified by police as the person who had made the ransom-style calls to the victim’s brother and was subsequently charged.

The case proceeded to Guildford Crown Court, where the full scale of the conspiracy emerged.

Following a six-week trial in December 2025, Armstrong, of Staines-upon-Thames, and Thompson, of Croydon, were both found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap. Armstrong was additionally convicted of assault and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon, while Thompson was also found guilty of possessing an offensive weapon.

Both men were sentenced to nine years in prison.

Meanwhile, Swyer, of Dorking, and Love, of Merton, had already admitted their roles. Each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap, with Swyer also admitting common assault. They were both handed sentences of three years and four months behind bars.

But it was Burton’s role that drew particular attention in court.

Burton, from Leatherhead, had already admitted conspiracy to kidnap, false imprisonment, and assaulting a police officer. He was also found guilty of sexual assault relating to the victim’s ordeal. The court imposed the heaviest punishment on him — 12 years’ imprisonment followed by five years on licence. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

In total, the group received combined sentences amounting to 36 years.

Speaking after the case concluded, Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey did not hold back. He described the group’s behaviour as “heinous” and stressed that no one should ever have to endure what the victim experienced during the multi-stage kidnapping.

He said the sentences ensured the offenders would spend significant time behind bars “where they belong.”

For investigators, the case highlighted the speed at which organised violence can unfold in seemingly quiet communities — and how quickly a local neighbour’s vigilance can become the crucial first link in saving a life.