A KIDNAP and blackmail trial took a dramatic turn when a former associate of one of the alleged victims came forward at the 11th hour.

The judge in the trial of millionaire Volker Kappler had almost finished summing up when Julian Youll telephoned the court to say he had some information which could help.

Mr Youll, 38, from Derbyshire, said he had heard about the case from his grandmother, in Hartlepool, and travelled to the North-East on Friday to see how it was progressing.

He told the jury at Teesside Crown Court yesterday that he listened to 30 minutes of the judge's summing up before he called the court clerk's office and asked to speak to Mr Kappler's defence team.

He revealed details of an incident four years ago when he was in business with alleged kidnap victim John Wood and his associate Paul Thompson.

He told the court yesterday that he had resigned as director of operations at Neutratech, in Thornaby, after a disagreement with the other two men in July 1999 - four months before a suspicious fire destroyed the factory.

Mr Youll, originally from Hartlepool, said Mr Wood tried to frame him for the arson, but he was released without charge after being arrested and questioned by police.

Detective Constable Steven Burke, who led the investigation into the fire, was also called as a late witness yesterday, and denied he had told Mr Youll that Mr Wood blamed him for the blaze.

German-born industrialist Mr Kappler, 37, of Conwy, North Wales, is accused of orchestrating the kidnap of Mr Wood and his associate David Langhorne and demanding they pay £600,000 or be killed.

It is alleged an armed gang snatched the two men from Mr Wood's factory, in Hartlepool, on March 14 and drove them to Mr Kappler's plastics factory, in North Wales, where he was revealed as their captor.

Mr Kappler said he was not at the factory that night, and said he was being framed by Mr Wood, 36, and Mr Langhorne, 40, because he was blowing the whistle on a VAT fraud they were said to be involved in. He denies two charges of kidnap and two counts of blackmail.

The jury will continue its deliberations today.