Three men who taped a woman to a chair and threatened her with a gun have all been jailed.

Francis Essilfie, a Liberian accountant living in South Marston, was angry at his former partner after she left the country with £60,000 from a company she used to run with him which each said was theirs.

But after confronting her at her new home in Holland he hatched a plan to scare her into handing over what he thought was his when she was next in the UK.

And the 36-year-old brought in hired muscle Francis Njoroge, 48, and Fofe Lombo, 30, offering them thousands of pounds to join him in the enterprise.

When Carissa Huizinga arrived at her former home in South Marston with a female cousin at 4.30am on Thursday, June 19, last year the men swung into action.

Essifilie talked to her in the front room while Njoroge and Lombo, who were armed with large meat cleavers, waited behind a door.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, said he then shouted something like 'Boys, come and do your job,' or 'Let me introduce you to family,' and the pair burst into the room.

She said: "Mr Essilfie told them to bind her to a chair. Mr Lombo used duck tape to bind her to a dining chair.

"There was some period of time that she was tied to that chair, during this there was discussion about the money. She was saying she would get the money back.

"During the course of the time that Miss Huizinga was tied to the chair Mr Njoroge produced what was described as a toy gun and there was some reference to bullets: 'Don't make me put bullets in this'."

She said Essilfie had also been issuing numerous threats as she was tied up and had to be restrained by the others on more than one occasion to stop him being physically violent.

After a while her ties were loosened as she got some cash from her bag and they then took her to bank to get more, arriving at about 9am.

But during the morning Essilfie and his two hired hands started arguing about their payment before they left her and her cousin in the building.

They went straight to the police station but were so frightened they initially said they believed Essilfie had been kidnapped.

But after another witness told of what had taken place they revealed what they had been through at the hands of the three men.

Essilfie, who now lives in Oxford, pleaded not guilty to blackmail and conspiracy to falsely imprison but was convicted by a jury after a trial.

Njoroge, of Medlar Court, and Fofe Lombo, of Whitebeam Court, both Pinehurst, both admitted the conspiracy charge.

Alistair Grainger, for Essilfie, said although it must have been frightening for the victims there was no physical injuries caused.

He said his client had not realised the men he had roped in would be so heavily armed as he just wanted to frighten her.

Chris Oswald, for Njoroge, said "If you look at the parts played by the players, his is the least."

He said he accepted waving the gun around but it was clear to everyone that it was not real.

Darren Samat, for Lombo, said his client had joined the enterprise as he was told she might turn up 'with men'.

Jailing them, Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "Having hatched the plan so it was for more than four hours starting in the early hours of the morning of June 19 last year Miss Huizinga was terrorised by you three in what had been her home.

"During the course of what you did to her she was taped to a chair for a long period and she was made aware of the fact that you had with you various weapons. She was terrified.

"Mercifully she suffered no physical violence and there was no physical injury to her. That, I accept, was consistent with the plan which you Essilfie put in to operation and what the other two of you carried out.

"I have read carefully what she wrote in a victim impact statement and she of course has been permanently psychologically scarred by the actions of the three of you.

"As she sat in that house restrained, as she was, she of course had no idea how things would come to an end. She didn't know what was in store for her."

He jailed Essilifie for five-and-a-half years wih a restraining order banning him contacting her, Lombo for 28 months and Njoroge for 22 months.

After the hearing Det Cons Michael O’Sullivan, of CID, said: “I am satisfied with the sentence given out today which reflects the seriousness of this crime.

“The victim experienced a terrifying ordeal at the hands of Essilfie, Lombo and Njoroge. Nobody should have to experience such a traumatic chain of events.

“I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the victim and the other two women who fled the house in South Marston and went to Gablecross police station where they eventually told officers what had happened.”