A COMPANY boss and a champion bodybuilder have been jailed indefinitely over a kidnap plot in which the victim was bound, threatened and assaulted.

Businessman Dean Rice, 46, was sentenced in his absence, as he fled shortly before he was convicted last month.

He is thought to be in Spain where he has previously lived. If arrested, he will have to serve five years before the parole board will consider his release.

Powerfully-built Trevor Chrouch, 39, will remain behind bars for three-and-a-half years before his release is considered. Rice's wife, mother-of-three Nichole, 42, said to have been bullied and then "left in the lurch" by her husband, and Michael Kelly, 64, were each jailed for five years.

Dean Rice, boss of Erith Storage Ltd, was on bail during the five-week trial and failed to appear while the jury was out considering verdicts.

He and his wife, of Button Street, Swanley Village, Chrouch, of Sheffield,and Kelly, of Clayworth Close, Sidcup, were found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.

Badhader More, 38, of Cecil Road, Gravesend, was cleared of the charges. Dean Rice, Chrouch and former Kent Cricket Club fitness coach Anthony Toms, 61, of Carmarthen, Dyfed, Wales, were acquitted of assaulting kidnap victim Alan Clarke, causing actual bodily harm.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Dean Rice ordered the kidnap of former employee Mr Clarke after accusing him of stealing £500,000.

Mr Clarke worked for Erith Storage for about eight months in 2004. He was walking his dog near his home in Camden, north London, in March last year when he was grabbed by three men and forced into a van.

Despite a woolly hat being pulled over his head, the victim could see that one of his captors had a handgun.

He was told he would be shot if he did not keep quiet.

Mr Clarke was "hog tied" and repeatedly asked about Dean Rice's money. More than two hours later, the van stopped and he was dragged over muddy ground to Glebe Farm in Duck Lane, Shadoxhurst, near Ashford, which belonged in part to Mr More.

He was left bound to a radiator in a "crucifix" pose. He eventually broke free and jumped 15ft from a window to get help.

Judge Martin Joy said the plan was meticulously put together. "Mr Clarke must have been terrified," he added. "There can be no doubt that Chrouch was a hired thug, hired for money."