By Emily Anderson
Copyright abc
Three men will remain behind bars for allegedly holding a man hostage and threatening him with a baseball bat over a business debt.
Dean Coyle, Sadock Nibizi and Brenton Monteleone were arrested in Monash on September 21 after allegedly kidnapping a 52-year-old man and making threats to harm him and his family.
They faced the ACT Magistrates Court individually this morning, charged with threatening to cause harm.
The court heard the trio met the man in Garran over his outstanding payments to Dean Coyle’s electrical business.
There, they allegedly threatened the man by holding a baseball bat to his chest, and making threats to harm him and his family.
Magistrate James Lawton said verbal threats included telling the man he needed to pay “otherwise there will be consequences” and “otherwise things get nasty”.
‘Hostage situation’
The court heard Mr Coyle had called upon Mr Nibizi and Mr Monteleone to assist him, and that the debt was about $200,000.
“This was a lawful debt,” Mr Coyle’s lawyer said.
“Not nefarious.”
The men then allegedly trapped the man into a car and drove him to his Garran home.
The court heard his children saw the alleged offenders.
The prosecution described the incident as a “hostage situation” where the man was held for an amount of money.
The men allegedly drove the man to a home in Monash where they were later arrested.
Each man applied for bail but the prosecution argued it should not be granted out of concerns for the safety of the victim and his family.
Magistrate James Lawton agreed.
The three men are scheduled to appear in court next month.
