ATTACKERS who abducted their victim at gunpoint, then took him 200 miles so he could be beaten further, are facing years behind bars.

Paul Flannigan was kidnapped and beaten by three men wearing balaclavas who burst into his bedroom at Burnhope Lodge, Burnhope, early on March 15, last year.

Newcastle Crown Court heard this week that he was driven to Liverpool where he was beaten again before being allowed to telephone for help.

The court heard how his father, David Flannigan, discovered his badly beaten son sitting outside a pub after being directed there by one of his abductors.

Mr Flannigan, who said it was a 'complete mystery' why he was targeted, needed hospital treatment for face and head injuries and fractures to his fingers.

He also had to have a testicle removed due to the assault.

Mr Flannigan, a scaffolder, was set on by Daniel Lafferty, John Haase and an unknown man after he arrived home.

He told the court: "I looked around and three men came in my house, overpowered me, took me into a car and took me away.

"I was put into a car and taken to a house.

"I was beaten again, released and my dad came to pick me up."

He said his face was covered with a hood and it was not removed until he was dumped outside the pub.

Haase, 48, of Pinfold Crecent, Liverpool, had claimed he was on honeymoon when Mr Flannigan, and a second victim in Liverpool, were targeted.

He denied kidnapping, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and aggravated burglary in relation to Mr Flannigan.

He also denied wounding with intent and possessing a firearm during an attack on another man on Merseyside. Haase was found guilty of all charges against him.

The jury found him guilty of all five charges.

Lafferty, 37, of Maghull, Liverpool, admitted kidnap and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

He also admitted wounding with intent in relation to the later attack.

The pair will be sentenced later.

Malcolm Lindsay, 27, of Crighton, Washington, Wearside, had denied aiding and abetting grievous bodily harm with intent by showing them where Mr Flannigan lived.

He was found not guilty part way through the trial at the direction of Judge Maurice Carr.