A homeless woman has been jailed for her involvement in the kidnapping and torture of a man who was rescued after the air ambulance spotted him in a field.

Jade Bowden, 27, drove a car which was used to kidnap a 22-year-old abducted at knife-point and brought to Southfleet, near Gravesend, from London.

The man, who has not been named, was bundled into the car by four men who then beat, tortured, robbed and stabbed him because they wrongly suspected he'd stolen thousands from them.

Bowden, of no fixed address, was at the wheel of the car used during the incident and admitted conspiracy to kidnap at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday.

She was locked up for three years and nine months.

Bowden was due to stand trial over the matter, but on the first day of the hearing she pleaded guilty to the offence.

The court heard the man was kidnapped at about 11.45pm on April 19 last year in Plumstead.

They thought he had stolen between £30,000 to £40,000 of crack cocaine and heroin from a house in Gilbourne Road in the district.

The gang wanted their drugs back and violently attacked him as he was driven to a farmer's field in Southfleet.

Once there, he was beaten, tortured, robbed and stabbed.

His ordeal only came to an end when an air ambulance flew over the fields testing out its search light.

The gang thought the helicopter was a police one and made their get away.

The kidnapped man was then able to run off and get help.

He was treated in hospital for serious stab wounds to the hands and is still recovering from his injuries.

Detectives from the Met Police investigated the crime and found a drugs factory and a substantial amount of crack cocaine at home in Plumstead.

Officers identified and arrested Bowden and the four men involved after they established they had all been in contact with one another, placing them at key locations in London and in Kent.

Another man was arrested for perverting the course of justice over the incident and the other defendants were sentenced in December 2017 and January 2018.

Detective Constables Andrew Payne and Martin Langley were awarded commendations from the judge for their exemplary investigation into the kidnapping.

DC Payne said: “This latest and final conviction closes what has been an exhaustive and challenging investigation into an organised crime group, who committed a vicious and sustained attack on the victim.

"It was a brutal attack committed in an isolated field in the Kent countryside.

“Lengthy custodial sentences have been imposed, totalling over 40 years.

"I wish to praise the Crown Prosecution Service, trial counsel and the extended investigation team for the significant work that was done in this complex investigation.”