Joshua Elliott, Joshua Cowan, Timothy Elder: Shock details revealed in violent Nowra kidnapping case

Shock details have been revealed in a violent kidnapping case on the NSW south coast, where three men sought revenge on a man over drug money, bashing him and threatening to cut his fingers off.

The incident occurred on St Anns St, Nowra.

Three men kidnapped a man who owed them money for drugs, before threatening to cut off his fingers with an angle grinder and gutter stomp his face.

This publication can reveal the details of the horror kidnapping on the NSW south coast, carried out by Joshua Elliott, Joshua Cowan and Timothy Elder, in Nowra more than two years ago.

The three Shoalhaven men pleaded guilty to kidnap in company with intent to cause actual bodily harm in the Nowra District Court on Thursday, before Judge Christopher O’Brien.

The trio were also each charged with aggravated enter dwelling, stalk or intimidate and common assault; however these charges were withdrawn on Thursday.

Documents tendered to the court state the kidnapping victim owed drug money, with Elliott, Cowan and Elder setting him up as punishment.

Joshua Elliott, Joshua Cowan and Timothy Elder appeared in the Nowra District Court.

The victim has not been charged with any drug related offences.

The agreed facts state the victim visited a home on St Anns St, Nowra, on the afternoon of October 29, 2022, having organised to buy drugs.

However, after arriving at the home, he was attacked by Elliott, Cowan and Elder with the three men punching him multiple times.

The victim was pulled by his hair into the kitchen, where Cowan and Elder forced his hand onto the bench.

“Put his hand on the bench and cut his fingers off,” agreed facts state Elliott said.

Elliott came into the kitchen holding an angle grinder, before turning it on and off.

The incident occurred on St Anns St, Nowra.

The victim managed to squirm his way out of Cowan and Elder’s grip, running out of the building.

Agreed facts state he was then pushed off the stairs leading down to the driveway, falling onto his back.

The victim got up and continued to run, attempting to get into another house on the street, before the trio caught up to him, grabbing him again by his hair and dragging him to the side of the road.

“Put your mouth on the gutter,” one of the men said, according to agreed facts.

“Get the car,” Elliott said.

One of the men drove a car to where the victim lay with his mouth still over the concrete roadside.

“Put him in the boot and take him out bush,” agreed facts state Elliott said.

However, as the men placed the victim in the boot of the car, neighbours began shouting and calling the police.

The three men dropped the victim, before fleeing the scene.

Police arrived shortly after and the victim was taken to Shoalhaven District Hospital, where he was treated for bruising across his body.

An investigation was commenced by the Southern Police District, who arrested the three men on December 22, 2022.

Elliott, Cowan and Elder previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, with the trio set down for trial this week.

However, in court on Thursday, the trio’s defence barristers Joseph Klarica, Jack Hibbard and Bernadette O’Reilly revealed negotiations with the Crown were successful.

Elliott, Cowan and Elder – who have been in custody at the South Coast Correctional Centre since their arrest – will return to court in February to set a sentence date.

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