A GERMAN millionaire accused of kidnapping and blackmailing two North-East businessmen yesterday denied any involvement.

Volker Kappler detailed what he did the day the pair were said to have been subjected to their "horrendous ordeal" - telling a jury he was at home watching The Simpsons.

Mr Kappler, 37, is alleged to have masterminded the kidnapping of Hartlepool men John Wood and David Langthorne over a £500,000 debt owed by a business associate, Paul Thompson.

It is said that Mr Kappler hired a gang, who posed as customs and excise officials and snatched the pair from Mr Wood's business premises, before driving them handcuffed and blindfolded to North Wales.

Mr Wood, 36, and Mr Langthorne, 40, claimed they were tied up, beaten and told that they and their families would be killed unless they paid £600,000.

Mr Kappler, of Conwy, North Wales, denies two counts of kidnap and two of blackmail.

At the opening of the defence case yesterday, the German-born businessman was asked by his barrister Paul Batty to recall what he did on the day of the alleged kidnap, March 14.

He told Teesside Crown Court he went to his factory in Mold, North Wales, before 9am, travelled to a nearby airport, before driving to Crewe then Chester, where he called at a hotel and restaurant.

By mid-afternoon, he went to a hotel and function centre, out of the city, before returning, calling at his gym and visiting three other places.

Security camera footage from a Chester service station showed he was there at about 5.20pm and Mr Kappler claimed he arrived home at 7.30pm.

He said he was sure of the time because Coronation Street was starting and his wife wanted to watch it. He said she recorded the soap allowing him to watch The Simpsons.

Mr Kappler said he believed the kidnap claim had been made up because the companies owned by Mr Wood, Mr Langthorne and Mr Thompson were being investigated by Customs and they wanted to divert attention away from them.

The businessmen claimed they met Mr Kappler after being taken to Wales and he told them he was owed money.

Mr Wood claimed a pistol was put to his head at Kappler's factory and warned if he did not do as he was told he would "go missing".

The trial continues today.