Gun-wielding kidnappers seize bank manager - as a prank on his 40th birthday

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He can see the funny side now. But bank manager Tony Sharp wasn't laughing when he fell victim to a fake kidnapping devised by a friend intent on making his 40th birthday one to remember.

Mr Sharp was seized at gunpoint on his way to work by masked men in what he thought was a Securitas-style raid.

He was beginning to fear he was about to meet his maker when the gang revealed themselves – as a dozen of Mr Sharp's bank colleagues and his friend Les Allen, who had planned the stunt in revenge for one played on him last year.

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Moment of fear: A masked figure apparently holds the hooded bank manager at gunpoint

Mr Allen said he warned police of the plan in advance but Devon and Cornwall police said they had no record of the incident and warned against any kind of stunt involving fake guns.

Mr Sharp, manager of the HSBC bank in Penzance, was waylaid after colleague Paul Jackson gave him a lift to work from his home at Goldsithney and stopped at a filling station.

As Mr Sharp was distracted by a long text message – all part of the plan – he was ambushed by two guntoting figures in boiler suits and balaclavas.

A pillowcase was pulled over his head and he was driven to Penzance railway station.

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Only joking: Les Allen, with a fake gun, removes his mask to the relief of Tony Sharp

There he was ordered out of the car to hear cameras clicking, which he thought was pictures being taken to prove to his family and the bank that he was a hostage.

But then the pillowcase was whipped off and he saw Mr Allen and the others in fits of laughter.

Mr Allen had been planning his revenge ever since his 40th birthday when Mr Sharp had a picture of him emerging from the shower almost naked blown up into a 10ft by 8ft poster which he hung from a road bridge near Mr Allen's home.

Mr Allen sent him a text saying "every dog has its day" and started planning for his own birthday surprise.

He roped bank workers and staff at the filling station into the scheme and informed police in case the mock kidnapping was reported by passers-by.

Mr Sharp said the prank had been "timed to perfection" but added: "I thought I was going to die.

"My thoughts turned to my family. I kept on talking about my three boys but I don't think I mentioned my wife.

"Then they suddenly pulled off the pillowcase and said 'Happy Birthday, Sharpy'.

"I've got to pay tribute to them. This is one practical joke I'll never forget."

A police spokesman said: "In general we would discourage this sort of thing. It is not a good idea to go around in public with replica or toy guns and balaclavas."

 

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