A kidnapper who put a belt around the neck of his victim and forced him to walk naked on all fours like a dog has been jailed for seven years. Bernard Ward had been drinking all day when he went with others to Mr David Kane's flat near Dublin city centre and forced him to go with them to a house in Coo lock where he was stripped to his underpants, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told.
Det Garda Con Houlihan said the incident arose out of a dispute over money for scratch cards between Mr Kane and Ward's sister. Ward beat and kicked Mr Kane for about an hour and at one stage stuck a lit cigarette into his neck. He forced him around the floor on all fours with his belt around his neck and stole money. Ward (33), married and the father of three, of Darndale Estate, Dublin, pleaded guilty to abducting and assaulting Mr Kane on February 20th, 1997.