A man was allegedly abducted, beaten up, stabbed and threatened with death, because he owed someone £150.

Faisal Idris, of Spencer Close, Oxford, told Oxford Crown Court, yesterday he was bundled into a car in Moorhen Walk, Greater Leys, and driven to a first-floor flat in Shepherd's Hill, where he was held captive and attacked.

Mark Dawes, 24, of no fixed address, has pleaded not guilty to the charge that with four others on May 25 2001 he tried to blackmail Mr Idris's sister and brother-in-law to obtain money.

Mr Idris, who admits taking crack cocaine on the evening of the incident on May 25 last year, said that he owed £150 to Dawes's friend Anthony Campbell, 33, of no fixed address. But when he was held at the flat the gang demanded £5,000.

Mr Idris said that he had "gone off the rails" in the days leading up to an incident which had resulted in him stealing his sister's car and driving to Moorhen Walk where he met Mr Campbell.

Mr Idris said: "As soon as I stepped out of the car he punched me in the face."

He claimed Mr Campbell forced him into a white Rover car and he was taken to the flat in Shepherd's Walk, where he was beaten up by Mr Campbell and Dawes.

The court was told that several phone calls were made from two mobile phones in the flat to Mr Idris's sister and brother-in-law, and that threats made by Campbell into the phone were repeated by Dawes.

Mr Idris said: "They said if they did not receive the money they would chop one of my fingers off and they said they would kill me."

Mr Idris also said Mr Campbell stabbed him in the chest, and Dawes picked up a bottle of white spirit and said he wished he could pour it on his head and light it.

The court was told that the incident ended when the victim was taken to Tesco at Cowley Retail Park, to be exchanged for the money at 5.20am. Police, who had been tipped off, were waiting.

The trial continues.