THREE men who terrorised the boss of a Birmingham skip hire company in a bid to extort money out of him have each been jailed for 18 months.

Nigel Turner was visited at his business and his home, where he lived with his wife and four children, by the defendants and was also sent text messages demanding cash.

Mr Recorder JG Ross QC said: “These were visits designed to and did intimidate Mr Turner. They succeeded in the object of frightening him.”

Timothy Sarapuk, 45, of Trittiford Road, Dean Jelley, 44, of Menin Road, both Billesley, and Anthony Harbun, 42, of Clarence Road, Moseley, all admitted a charge of putting a person in fear of violence.

Tariq Shakoor, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said Mr Turner, aged 40, owned a five-bedroom house and ran a skip hire business called Skyp Skips from premises in Hay Mills which employed 40 people.

On May 17 last year the company secretary received as call from a man called Gary claiming Mr Turner owed him money and threatening to “break his legs and burn his house down with everyone in it” if Mr Turner did not phone him back.

The victim was told about the call and when he later returned home a car containing four “hefty” men pulled up behind him on his drive.

Three of them approached his vehicle and Jelley told him he “better sort out the debt” and made a demand for £25,000.

Mr Shakoor said the men later offered to act as debt collectors for Mr Turner.

However they then visited his business claiming he owed them £12,000 after police confiscated a car belong to them. Mr Shakoor said Harburn subsequently made further calls to the victim’s home demanding more cash.

Jonathan Baker, for Jelley said “He regretted getting involved in this. It was ill advised and ill thought out.”

Malcolm Morse for Harbun said it was someone else’s quarrel and he had not benefitted at all.