A 20-year-old UK woman saved herself from being abducted off a street in Hove, near Brighton, by a balaclava-clad man who dragged her into a stolen car.
Footage of the incident showed the moment when 22-year-old Cameron Boxall tried to drag the woman off the street and pulled her into the backseat of his stolen Mini Cooper. The woman screamed “no, no, no” repeatedly and proceeded to kick the suspect as he tried to kidnap her. After being pulled into the backseat, Boxall sped off in the car with her legs still hanging out. There, she continued to fight Boxall by punching him until he kicked her out of the car. The woman was then able to get help from a passerby.
Boxall was arrested and has recently been jailed for five years following a hearing at Hove Crown Court on Friday. He admitted to kidnapping the woman as well as stealing the car and possessing marijuana, according to a report by the BBC. He was also issued a restraining order against the victim.
The court heard details about the incident, which took place last year, including how Boxall had switched the number plates on the stolen car with one nearby. He got out of his car and chose a victim by first asking for directions.
“He had already identified her as his intended victim. The Mini was positioned to block her route. He called out to her,” explained prosecutor Gareth Burrows. “He said: ‘Excuse me, I’m a bit lost, I’m looking for Brunswick Place, can you help me?’
“His intention was to draw her close. He got out of the car, saying ‘Get in the f***ing car,’” Burrows said.
After a struggle inside the car where he had trouble shutting the door due to the victim’s legs, he pushed her out of the moving vehicle, and she was “found on the ground in a state of shock.” Boxall claimed he was trying to rob the woman in order to settle a drug debt.
The victim said in a statement she felt as though she had “lost her freedom,” saying, “I struggle to understand the level of violence he used against me and I feel lucky to be alive.”
“I had bruises and scratches on my back, arms, and legs from where he threw me out of the car, and a massive lump on my head,” she added. “What happened has changed the way I view the world. I’ve not done anything wrong and did not deserve what happened to me.”
