A father and his sons ended up in court after they kidnapped and assaulted the 16-year-old boy who had allegedly stolen their beloved pet cat.

Arished Ali, 49, confronted the 16-year-old boy after spotting him on his Quarry Road home’s CCTV system picking up the cat then walking away.

In a message to his family WhatsApp group, he wrote: “I saved the cat. It was getting catnapped.”

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Around two hours later, the boy was confronted in Green Road as he cycled away from a friend’s house.

He was bundled into the back of a white Mercedes by Ali’s son Shabaz Hussain, 22, beaten up on the back seat and driven back to Quarry Road by driver Saahil Hussain.

Forced to his knees, the teen apologised before he was kicked and punched by Shabaz and Abdul Hussain.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle KC told “I’m told it’s right you’re ashamed; well, you should because that was bullying of a really awful nature.”

But he spared the four men immediate prison sentences, instead suspending the jail terms and ordering they do unpaid work.

Oxford Mail: Abdul Hussain and, right, Arished Ali outside Oxford Crown Court

Earlier, the court heard that the 16-year-old victim, who cannot be identified because he is under-18, was caught on Ali’s CCTV-enabled doorbell at around 7.30pm on August 26 last year stroking a piebald ginger, black and white cat on the driveway.

He was seen picking up the reluctant feline and walking away.

Ali came out of the house and confronted the teenager, accusing him of stealing the cat. The boy replied that he had not tried to steal the animal and pointed out the cat in a nearby garden.

The child went on his way to a friend’s house in Green Road.

Detective work by Thames Valley Police later established that Arished Ali sent a message to his sons via WhatsApp. “I saved the cat. It was getting catnapped,” he wrote.

Ali received a phone call lasting 59 seconds from Shabaz Hussain. He sent an image taken from the CCTV doorbell.

There was further contact between the family members. At 9.18pm, Ali sent a message of reassurance. “Leave it tonight,” he said.

The teenager, who had been sent threatening messages by the Hussains but had apparently not read them, left his friend’s house at around 9.30pm. He had only cycled around 30ft along the pavement before a white Mercedes saloon swerved in front of him.

The boy was struck by Shabaz and an unidentified man and bundled into the backseat of the vehicle, which was driven by Saahil Hussain. His bike was left at the roadside.

In the back of the car, the teenager was struck repeatedly and had his hair pulled.

He was driven back to the property in Quarry Road, where footage from the kidnappers’ own video doorbell showed how the boy was ordered to his knees and threatened by the angry father and sons.

“On your knees,” the boy was told. The teenager could he heard begging the men: “I’m sorry, I’ll never do it again. I actually am sorry.”

The child was punched and kicked as he sat on his haunches on the pristine driveway.

All four men involved in the bizarre incident were arrested, and DNA collected from the Mercedes proving that the teenager had been in the back of the Mercedes.

Judge Pringle said: “Offences of kidnap vary enormously. There can be those of the most serious nature, where young, vulnerable people or simply just vulnerable people are deprived of their liberty, they are taken away somewhere, sometimes for very long periods of time and assaulted. Such cases will attract sentences in double figures.

“Kidnap is regarded as a most serious offence. It is taking the law into your own hands [and] that is what you have done here.”  

Saahil Hussain, 22, of Maidcroft Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to kidnap. He had a single previous conviction and was described by his barrister, Tamasin Graham, as feeling ‘profound shame for what happened’.

He received a year’s imprisonment suspended for two years, with 100 hours of unpaid work and up to 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Shabaz Hussain, 22, of Quarry Road, Oxford, admitted kidnap and causing actual bodily harm. Judge Pringle said he had played a significant role in the kidnap and assault, sentencing him to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years.

He must do 200 hours of unpaid work, up to 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay £750 in costs.  

Arished Ali and Abdul Hussain, 19, both of Quarry Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm. They were each given six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years.

Ali was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and Hussain received 120 hours of unpaid work.

Barrister Helen Dawson, representing Shabaz, Abdul and Arished Ali, said the men expressed through her ‘their deep regret and remorse’.

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