FIVE men have been jailed for a total of 29-and-a-half years for their part in the kidnap of an illegal immigrant and the blackmail of his brother.

All the men, who were sentenced by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court, come from the Gravesend area.

Avtar Singh, of Rochester Road, was given the longest sentence of eight years and another ringleader, Sukhjinder Pooney, of Rochester Road, was jailed for seven-and-half years.

Gurwinder Jutty, of Mitchell Avenue, and Asim Rana, of Rochester Road, were both sentenced to five years. Anthony Rutledge, of Pelham Road South, was given a four-year sentence.

Singh, 28, Pooney, 21, Jutty, 21, Rana, 24, and Rutledge, 21, were all convicted of conspiracy to kidnap Baljinder Singh in October 2004 and two charges of falsely imprisoning him.

Singh and Pooney were also convicted of blackmailing Mr Singh's brother Lahkwinder by trying to extort £30,000 from him in a ransom demand.

Vikram Singh, 25, of Rochester Road, Laddi Singh, 20, of London Road, Kuldeep Singh, 19, of Brandon Street, and Makhan Singh Dhillon, 21, of London Road, were cleared of various charges against them.

The prosecution told how the victims were targeted because their illegal status in this country made them vulnerable.

Baljinder Singh claimed he was ordered to strip and was then filmed on a camcorder and mobile phone in an attempt to extort £30,000 from him.

He described how he sobbed throughout his ordeal at a flat above a former Spar shop run by Avtar Singh in Rochester Road.

Judge Jeremy Carey told Avtar Singh and Pooney that they behaved with arrogance from start to finish and saw their victim as easy pickings for a substantial amount of money.

"Over the course of days he was put in fear," he said. "He was made to feel his life might be taken."

The judge told Singh: "He was kept in circumstances which were wholly disagreeable and was at times subjected to violence by you when you kicked him.

"He was made to feel a creature of the lowest worth when you said others could have sex with him if they wanted. You generally treated him as though his life was nothing to you."