A MAN was forced into a car and kidnapped, blackmailed for £10,000, threatened with a machete and punched in the face over allegations he helped facilitate an affair, a court heard.

Ataf Ali was sitting in his own car outside his house in Lidget Green when two men pulled up alongside him and he was ordered into their vehicle.

A jury at Bradford Crown Court was told that Mr Ali was driven around on November 1, 2018, and subjected to an assault before being able to “run for it” as the pair stopped the car to meet someone.

Two men – Paul Serrant, 28, and Ghufran Khalid, 40, both of Withins Close, Great Horton – went on trial yesterday charged with kidnap, blackmail, threatening with an offensive weapon, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. They deny all charges.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron told the jury that Mr Ali was sat in his car on Ellercroft Road at around 7.25pm when a distinctive white Mercedes pulled up alongside him.

“Mr Ali says he was told to get out of his car and get into the Mercedes. He says he was scared to do so out of fear of violence. The prosecution say he was right to be scared.”

He was driven off and was subjected to an assault and ordered to pay £10,000 because he had given a friend a lift to Leeds, allegedly facilitating an affair, Mr Hendron added.

The jury was told that CCTV footage captured in Westcroft Road, Great Horton, showed the same distinctive car pulled up and a man getting out of the passenger side door. It showed him opening the front passenger door, with what appeared to be a machete in his hand.

It is the prosecution’s case that this man was Serrant.

“Mr Ali was choked in a head lock and had the seatbelt wrapped around his neck. He received injuries to his face,” said Mr Hendron.

He added: “The prosecution say that over a 30 minute period, these two defendants worked together to kidnap, blackmail, threaten and actually assault Mr Ali. Khalid was driving and Serrant was the passenger.”

They believed Mr Ali had given a lift to a man called Imran Sajwal, who was thought to be having an affair with Khalid’s wife, Becca McCreath, he told the jury.

CCTV footage of later that night showed someone using the keys to gain access to Mr Ali’s car which he had left outside his house and driving off in it.

The prosecution believe this was Serrant, adding that the Vauxhall was later found on Withins Close - the street both defendants lived on at the time.

In police interviews Khalid accepted there were ongoing issues with his wife and Mr Sajwal, but denied he was with Serrant and had anything to do with the incident.

Serrant told police he was at home with his family at the time of the incident and also denied being known as ‘Pabs’, the nickname Mr Ali had used to refer to him.

Mr Ali, a 37-year-old father of six, told the court that Khalid demanded to know why he had given his wife a lift.

He told them: “I just gave them a lift, what have I done wrong?”

He described being punched in the side of the head from behind and being choked with the seat belt.

The trial continues.