Michael Deslandes, Jayden Flower, Kieran Heather, Grant Quigley: Wodonga men plead guilty to abducting teen thief

A father of a teen handed him over to the Wodonga man he stole from with a 10 pack of cans. He was beaten, horrifically tortured and threatened with rape.

Four men pleaded guilty in Wodonga County Court on Monday to multiple charges of false imprisonment, causing injury, threatening to kill, threatening to inflict serious injury and threatening to destroy property. (Picture: Wodonga Magistrates Court, supplied)

A teenage boy bit off “more than he could chew” when he stole from a Wodonga man who grabbed his three mates and abducted and tortured him, threatening to rape him, his girlfriend and burn down his family’s home.

Michael Deslandes, 39, Jayden Flower, 26, Kieran Heather, 26, and Grant Quigley, 34 pleaded guilty in Wodonga County Court on Monday to multiple charges of false imprisonment, causing injury, threatening to kill, threatening to inflict serious injury and threatening to destroy property.

The four men were charged with abducting, torturing and threatening a 17 year-old who stole motorbike helmets, tools and a wallet from Deslandes’ open garage in Wodonga in December 2019.

Deslandes also reported two motorbikes as missing which he believed the victim had stolen as well.

The court heard Deslandes got the victim’s name from police who he had reported the crime to before the four men drove to the victim’s home.

The men spoke with the victim’s mother who they convinced Deslandes was only interested in recovering his stolen property.

The mother agreed to drive the men to her son, who was at a football club.

The men followed in their car but when they arrived the victim denied stealing the bikes.

Heather threatened to burn down his home and lifted his shirt to show what the victim believed was the handle of a handgun.

The victim ran to his father’s shop to hide.

Deslandes, Heather and Quigley followed and spoke to his father, who dragged the victim out and handed him to the men.

He told them to do whatever they wanted and gave them 10 cans of Jack Daniels as an apology.

The four men took the victim to their car and drove away, turning off their phones.

The victim’s mother saw them leave and called triple-0.

As they were driving Heather grabbed a blow torch and threatened to burn the victim and rape and murder his girlfriend.

Flower also threatened to rape the victim.

All four then discussed keeping the victim locked in a cage at one of their homes.

Quigley drove to a forest and pulled over to the side of the road, where he and Deslandes began beating the victim.

Heather heated a metal pipe with the blowtorch and handed it to Quigley, who threatened to push it down the victim’s throat before hitting him with it.

The four men then threatened to tie the victim to their car and drag him along the road, before a passing car spooked them.

Quigley drove the car to another patch of bush where they forced the victim to strip naked and beat him until he was unconscious.

When the victim woke up, Heather brandished a cordless angle grinder at him and said he was going to cut the back of his legs.

After Flowers and Deslandes took turns to beat the victim, they made him dress again and get back into the car and drove him back to Wodonga.

As Quigley drove, Deslandes continued to beat the victim with a motorcycle helmet, while Heather held what the victim thought was a gun to the victim’s head.

Before leaving him in the street, Deslandes told the victim he would shoot his family, burn his house to the ground, and kill his girlfriend and child in front of him if he did not return the bikes.

They then ditched him in the street and the victim walked to his relative’s home and he was taken to Albury Base Hospital.

Deslandes was arrested the next day. Quigley and Flower were arrested on December 12 and Heather was arrested on January 9 in Thurgoona NSW.

Deslandes’ lawyer said the victim’s injuries were “to a very great degree, extremely limited” and that Deslandes had suffered enormous loss after being forced to surrender shares and partnership of his successful switchboard making business.

Quigley’s lawyer said his client was a “yes man” who only took part to help his employer but felt uncomfortable doing so.

When interviewed by police, Flower said Deslandes had offered $1000 for help in getting the bikes and he had recruited Heather with that promise.

A lawyer for Heather also conceded that he had been high on methamphetamine and had acted on the promise of more.

Judge John Smallwood disputed descriptions by prosecutors that the attacks on the victim were torture.

“It’s a big bad world out there and if you want to go and burgle houses … one day you’re going to bite off more than you can chew,” he said.

Judge Smallwood adjourned the pleas part-heard to the Ballarat court later this month.

Heather was remanded in custody while the other three had their bail extended.

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