Felixstowe man jailed after drugging woman and abducting child

29 May 2019, 15:07 | Updated: 29 May 2019, 15:13

A man from Felixstowe who drugged and threatened to kill a woman before abducting a child has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Daniel Campanu, aged 40 and of Blyford Way, was sentenced to 18 years in prison at Norwich Crown Court today (Wednesday 29 May) after being found guilty of false imprisonment, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, attempted child abduction, administering a drug with intent and other offences.

The court heard how Campanu had breached a restraining order by turning up at the victim's address in Stalham on the evening of Monday 7 May 2018 armed with an imitation handgun and a kitchen knife. Campanu threatened to kill the woman and a child.

The victim, aged in her 30s, was then tied to a chair and forced to drink some liquid, which was proven by the prosecution to have contained a drug called Scopolamine, a hallucinogenicdrug, which caused her to become drowsy and stupefied.

At around 10.10pm the victim managed to escape the address and raise the alarm with a neighbour who called the police.

Firearms officers were quickly deployed to the scene, however, Campanu had already left the property, taking the child with him.

Campanu was arrested just over two hours later when officers tracked down his car, which was on route to Dover and stopped it at junction 7 of the M11 in Essex .

The child, aged under 10, was in the car and officers also found the imitation handgun on the back seat. Officers also seized a stun device, large knives, rolls of tape, rope, an electric dog collar, cash, a mobile phone belonging to the victim, a vile and syringe, white gloves, sleeping tablets and white powder.

The child was not hurt during the incident and the woman was taken to the James Paget Hospital for treatment.

On conviction, Her Honour Judge Bacon described Campanu as a 'dangerous and devious man' who committed 'despicable crimes'.

Detective Inspector Matt Dyson said: "Daniel Campanu is clearly a very dangerous man and I believe had we not stopped him he would have committed further very serious crimes.

"I want to thank the victim for the bravery she has shown in this case and I hope today's sentencing will enable her to start to rebuild her life after what has been a horrendous ordeal."