Daniel Bland and Brad Roberts plead guilty to false imprisonment and assault

A man who was lured to a house heard his revenge-fuelled captors talking about tying him to a jetty and letting him drown. Read how he escaped.

A tattoo artist and his friend held a man hostage for several hours and plotted his murder before he finally managed to escape, a court heard.

Daniel Wayne Bland, 29, and Brad Andrew Roberts, 30, were high on drugs when they took the law into their own hands and sought revenge over an unfounded belief.

Keryn Park, for the prosecution, told the court the victim was first approached by the group on the night of the offending in January 2023 and he gave them a lift.

The court heard he was lured to the Elizabeth Grove house where upon entry he was immediately assaulted by Bland with a golf club and called “a dog” by the group.

Other items, including bleach, gloves and duct tape were also at the house.

The victim, who was detained for six hours, eventually managed to escape when he went to a nearby property and called police around 7am.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by Ms Park, the victim said his eye continues to get bloodshot every few weeks and he has a constant blur from when Bland tried to dig it out with a spoon.

The court heard Bland, a former tattoo artist, hit the victim numerous times in the face and leg with the golf club, causing him to lose three teeth. He also tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag.

Daniel Bland pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault. Photo: Facebook

The court heard Roberts punched and kicked the victim many times.

The victim said his elderly mother almost collapsed when she heard the news that he was in hospital after the assault.

“I could imagine the horror for me as she has already had to attend the funerals of two of her children,” he said.

“I honestly do believe that if I had not the strength and courage to get free of the duct tape and rope … that I would not be here today.”

The victim said he could hear Bland speaking with the others about stabbing him, tying him to the jetty and letting the tide come in and drown him.

“I can never forgive or forget his actions or his plan to murder me,” the victim said.

Bland, of Adelaide and Roberts, of Moorook, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault causing harm, relating to the offending in January 2023.

The men’s co-accused, Chloe Watkins, 25, had pleaded not guilty to the charges but was not present at her last court date.

The court heard Bland believed the victim had sexually assaulted a woman known to him, but Judge Simon Stretton said he couldn’t accept that claim unless there was evidence produced to the court.

“It is not in any event for the defendants to have taken the law into their own hands as they did and particularly not in such a terrifying manner,” Ms Park said.

Counsel, for both men, told the court their clients were drug addicted at the time of the offending.

Judge Stretton will sentence the duo at a later date.

Originally published as Daniel Bland and Brad Roberts plead guilty to false imprisonment and assault