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Court Appeal Fails
Two men jailed after taking the law into their own hands following a burglary have failed in an Appeal Court bid to clear their names of false imprisonment convictions.
Karin Shawkat Mohammed, 49, and Andeel Hammad, 55, were convicted by a Blackfriars Crown Court jury in April 2007 of holding Polish national Krzysztof Sobiechowski against his will at Hammad's West London home.
Prosecutors alleged the burglary had been committed by a person linked to Mr Sobiechowski and held him in order to secure return of the stolen property.
In April of last year, Mohammed, of Abingdon Road, Finchley, North London, was jailed for two years for false imprisonment and Hammad, of Bulls Bridge Road, Southall, for four years for the same offence and one of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
On Tuesday (September 23), they took their case to the Court of Appeal but their arguments were rejected by Lord Justice Dyson, Mr Justice Davis and Mr Justice Burnett.
Lawyers representing the two men said it had been impossible for them to enjoy a fair trial because they were not given full information about Mr Sobiechowski's past and so could not properly cross-examine him.
But, refusing the appeal, Lord Justice Dyson said everything that could have been done to discover Mr Sobiechowski's past had been done.
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