Honeytrap gang who kidnapped and battered their friend over £150 debt in 'vile' attack are jailed
Daniel Aston, 33, his then-girlfriend Shannon Wolleter, 30, Steven Baker, 61, and his son Matthew Baker, 29, targeted charity worker Anthony Cooper after he owed them £150, and didn't approve of his new girlfriend.
Using Wolleter as bait, the gang lured Mr Cooper into their trap, dragging him off the street and launching a brutal attack that lasted more than four
At Birmingham Crown Court today, Judge Dean Kershaw slammed the gang, calling their actions a 'cowardly, planned, and vile attack' as he sentenced them to immediate jail time.
Aston, who has no fixed address, was handed a five-year and eight-month sentence after pleading guilty to kidnapping, robbery, and unlawful wounding.
Wolleter, from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, got a lighter sentence of two years and 10 months after admitting to kidnap and unlawful wounding.
Meanwhile, Steven Baker, of Balsall Heath, and Matthew Baker, of Tyseley, were both jailed for three years and nine months for confessing to the same two offences.
A fifth man, David Bambrough, 41, of Anderton Park Road, Moseley, had let the group attack Mr Cooper in his previous flat in Small Heath and joined into a limited extent.
He pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to six months suspended, including 35 days of rehabilitation activity and 100 hours of unpaid work.
But Judge Kershaw had no sympathy for any of them, branding the whole gang 'animals' for their shocking cruelty against a vulnerable man.
Mr Cooper knew the defendants through working for a homeless charity and considered them friends.
But things went sour when he resumed a relationship with a woman named Bethany Love.
Lachlan Stewart, prosecuting, said: 'Steven Baker saw her like a daughter. There was also a suggestion Matthew Baker may have been in a relationship with her in the past.
'The group started going around calling Mr Cooper a paedo, a rapist and sex offender entirely without basis.'
Aston also found out about the relationship when Ms Love sent him a picture of her Facebook status, prompting him to threaten to hurt Mr Cooper claiming he owed him money.
Wolleter, who was going out with Aston at the time, acted as the 'honeypot' or 'honeytrap'.
She began texting Mr Cooper pretending she fancied him and arranged to meet him on October 3,2021 for 'some kind of sexual encounter', said the prosecutor.
But when the victim arrived at 8.12pm Wolleter text Aston 'got him', prompting Steven Baker to turn up in his silver Mercedes.
He punched Mr Cooper and said 'come here you little c***' before bundling him into his car, with Wolleter hopping in the passenger seat.
Baker drove around the corner where his son Matthew Baker and Aston got in, and immediately started beating the vicitm.
Baker junior threatened to chop off Mr Cooper's legs and cut out his tongue, while Aston pulled out a knife and put it to his throat.
The group took the victim to Bambrough's flat in Small Heath where 'the attack intensifies', said Mr Stewart.
Baker struck Mr Cooper to the head three times with a tyre iron and also whacked him with a piece of wood.
But after 20 minutes Bambrough became concerned his neighbour would alert the police, so the original four kidnappers forced the victim back into the Mercedes and took him to a car park next to Four Dwellings Academy in Quinton.
There, they continued to beat him to the ground, with Wolleter kicking Mr Cooper in his stomach and genitals five times.
As the Bakers and Aston laid into his ribs the victim cried 'you're hurting me', to which Steven Baker told him 'good, you deserve it'.
Matthew Baker revelled in the violence by sending pictures and videos of the attack to other people on social media.
When one person asked what the victim had been hit with Baker replied: 'LOL a hammer.'
Eventually, Mr Cooper was once again thrown into the Mercedes and dropped off near his home, but not before Aston took his phone and bank card.
He managed to stumble back to his address but collapsed on his doorstep, where his friends found him.
The victim was taken to hospital and treated for a number of injuries including a 15cm long cut to his head which exposed his skull.
All five defendants were arrested within a matter of days.
In a statement Mr Cooper said he had 'really struggled' since the attack, having had to move home and work for fear of running into his tormenters.
He said: 'What makes things worse is I thought all the people involved were my friends.
'It really made me not want to make more friends.
'When it was happening I throught I was going to die. I have never been so scared in all my life.'
Rory Field, defending Matthew Baker, told the court he had 'challenging mental health issues' adding he 'doesn't fully understand the consequences of his actions'.
He said: 'Very unfortunately he reached his mid–20s when this occurred and hadn't committed any offence.
'He's not the sort of person who does commit offences but he is very easily led.
'He is the sort of person who could have gone through life without troubling this court at all.
'But he was picked up by one of the most significant influences in his life, his father, got in the car and things got worse thereafter.'
Colin McCarraher, defending Steven Baker, said he was currently undergoing psychotherapy and he was now a 'very different man'.
Graham Henson, representing Aston, conceded his client made the 'stupid' decision not to plead guilty sooner despite never denying what he did, adding he was now in a 'ridiculous' situation having spent around two–and–a–half years in custody on remand.
He told the court Aston had taken a number of courses while in prison and had 'reflected' on his actions.
The barrister said his client had a history of mental illness but had managed to go a long period without offending when he was in work.
Bunty Batra, defending Wolleter, submitted the incident was 'wholly out of character' for her, adding she was an 'extremely vulnerable' individual.
He told the court it was not her idea to text Mr Cooper but she did so at the 'behest' of Aston, with whom she was in an 'abusive' relationship at the time.
The barrister added Wolleter did not have the 'strength of character or personality' to remove herself from the incident as it escalated.
Omar Majid, mitigating for Bambrough, argued his role and involvement was 'significantly more limited' than the others.
He said his client was vulnerable and had mental health issues as he told the court he had learning difficulties, autism and low intellectual functioning.
The barrister added Bambrough was 'easily led and manipulated'.
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