Loan sharks threatened to blow my kneecaps off

Apr 17 2007 By James Cartledge, Birmingham Mail

THE victim of a vicious father and son loan shark gang feared he would die as they threatened to blow his kneecaps off.

Ruthless Lee Walker and his son Christopher also threatened to slice off terrified Paul Whitehouse's ear after snatching him from a Birmingham street.

Paul, aged 21, spoke out as the pair were jailed over the loan shark racket, which saw desperate customers charged up to 150,000 per cent interest on borrowed cash.

"Lee told me 'I'll blow your kneecaps off'. I thought I was going to die," Paul said.

"Chris got a baseball bat and whacked it on my knuckles. He punched me in the face.

"Lee got a machete and with the tip scratched it under my left eye, making it bleed. I was terrified for my life."

Jobless Paul was snatched from a street in Hodge Hill when he failed to maintain £50-a-week payments on a £1,000 loan. The debt rapidly soared to £3,000.

He was taken to Lee Walker's home at Farmcote Road, Stechford, where his ordeal began.

Paul said Christopher Walker put a Stanley knife to his ear and said: "Shall we chop his ear off ?" Lee said: "We should chop it off as a warning."

His torture ended with a warning he would "vanish" if he didn't pay £500 a month.

Lee Walker, 39, was yesterdayMon jailed for three-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court after being found guilty at a trial of kidnap, assault, wounding and blackmail.

He also admitted carrying on an illegal money lending business without a licence, acquiring the proceeds of the business, as well as charges under the Consumer Credit & Video Recordings Act.

Christopher Walker, 19, of Swancote Road, also Stechford, was convicted of kidnap and assault and jailed for a year.

The court heard the pair were caught by a Government operation cracking down on loan sharks.