I was thinking this day would be my last

Speaking exclusively to The Star, Qamar Sohail told how he begged for his life in the back of his own car as the kidnappers systematically punched and kicked him and warned they would murder him and his family.

He told how he:

nSuffered injuries to his face, head, shoulder, neck and back

nWas told he would be murdered and dumped in a river or on a motorway

nDesperately struggled as his captors tried to force him into his car boot

nWas ordered to rob a petrol station near Derby

nFinally escaped after police stopped his car on a duel carriageway.

The 19-year-old was kidnapped on the evening of Monday, March 26, after the youths – Nashad Khan, Mohammed Anwar and Tayeb Habib – jumped into his car as he delivered takeaways for his uncle in Totley.

"They told me to shut up and follow their instructions or they would kill me.

"I was saying 'Please let me go' but they wouldn't listen.

"In Sheffield at the time there were lots of stabbings and one or two people had been murdered. I was thinking that was going to happen to me.

"I was thinking this day would be my last. I thought no-one was going to help me."

Qamar, a former King Ecgbert school pupil who lives in Nether Edge, told how he desperately tried to escape but each time was punched and kicked and warned he would be killed.

He was then forced to drive to Langton's Snooker Centre on London Road, where 16-year-old Habib left and the others told him he was to be taken to Birmingham.

"There was blood coming down my face.

"They were saying to their friends that they had kidnapped a guy and they were taking him to Birmingham to kill him. I just lost all hope.

"Then they started saying they were going to kill my family. I just couldn't stop thinking about them."

Qamar, who is studying public services at Longley College, said police stopped the car on the way back from Birmingham and Khan and Anwar, both 18, were arrested.

"It was such a relief when the police came.

I don't care what happens to them in court. I don't care whether they get a long jail sentence or whether they walk free.

"But I can't get over what happened. I can't sleep. When I get into bed at night I lie awake thinking about what happened."

Khan, of Calvert Road, Darnall, admitted kidnap. Anwar, of Charlotte Road, Highfield, admitted false imprisonment. Habib was convicted of kidnap, false imprisonment and assault occasioning actual bodily harm after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.