A MILLIONAIRE, jailed for ten years after being found guilty of kidnapping and threatening to kill two North-East businessmen, has had his convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Volker Kappler, 41, from Llanfairtalhaiarn, near Conwy, North Wales, was convicted at Teesside Crown Court in October 2003 of kidnapping John Wood and David Langhorne, and trying to blackmail them out of £600,000.
However, three top judges have ruled the convictions "unsafe" today, overturned them and ordered a re-trial.
Lord Justice Longmore, sitting with Mrs Justice Gloster and Judge John Diehl QC, said fresh evidence had emerged which cast doubt on the "independence" of a crucial prosecution witness.
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