A Spalding man has been convicted of attempting to kidnap his girlfriend’s husband in a botched highjack.
Gary Leggate was chased by a masked Daniel Algar, 41, who hid in his car as part of a failed kidnap attempt, a court heard.
Jurors heard Algar was in a relationship with Mr Leggate’s wife, Lucy Leggate, 36, when the botched kidnap took place in September 2022.
Prosecutors alleged Mrs Leggate, of Church Green Close, Fishtoft, Lincs, helped in the planning by providing Algar with a spare key for her husband’s car and disclosing his movements.
But the jury cleared Mrs Leggate of any involvement and found her not guilty of the attempted kidnap charge.
Algar, of Second Avenue, Spalding, was granted conditional bail and will be sentenced on August 29.
The trial judge, Judge James House KC, warned Algar “to expect a custodial sentence” and told him “to put his affairs in order.”
Judge House also asked for “observations” on what were the possible outcomes of Algar’s plan.
“Whatever they were they caused considerable fear to the victim in this case,” Judge House added.
The court heard police were called to the incident on the A52, near Boston, shortly after 10pm on September 22 2022.
Jurors heard Mr Leggate had just left work at the nearby Reflex Labels printers without realising Algar had hidden in the rear seat of his car.
A witness described how the car stopped suddenly on the wrong side of the A52 before Mr Leggate and a man wearing a mask both got out of the vehicle.
The man “appeared to run after” Mr Leggate before changing direction.
In her statement, which was read out in court, she said she was “immediately concerned” for Mr Leggate and had asked him if he was ok, to which he replied “someone was in my car”.
“He was in a right state,” the court was told.
Mr Leggate told the witness he knew the masked man was having an affair with his wife, and named him as “Dan from Spalding.”
The court heard Mr Leggate had become aware that his wife was having an affair with Algar around two months earlier but had suspicions for much of 2022.
Jurors heard a phone belonging to Mrs Leggate made a 42 minute call to Algar which began at 9.27pm on 22 September and ended just before Mr Leggate reported the highjack.
The prosecution said Algar had been searching how to use the automatic answer facility on his phone and the call had been arranged as a “sham” to deceive the police into believing he was at home in Spalding.
But Mrs Leggate failed to mention the 42 minute call when police spoke to her a few hours after the attempted kidnap and said she last spoke to Algar at 9pm when he asked about her, Gary and the family.
The mother-of-four chose not to give evidence during her trial alongside Algar at Lincoln Crown Court.
Prosecution barrister Luc Chignell argued both defendants “shared a motive” even if he could not speculate about the “end game” or who was the mastermind behind the plan.
Mr Chignell added: “If ultimately they wanted to set up away from Gary.”
But the jury cleared Mrs Leggate of any involvement in the attempted kidnap after deliberating for four hours and she was discharged from the dock.
In the witness box Algar denied being the masked man in the car and claimed Gary Leggate had plotted a “vendetta” against him because of the affair he was having with Lucy.
But addressing the jury Mr Chignell argued Algar was trying to spin a conspiracy theory similar to those surrounding the moon landing or Elvis Presley’s death.
“One of the great mysteries of this case is what Algar was going to do if Gary Leggate complied with him,” Mr Chignell added.
Chris Jeyes, defending Algar, suggested Mr Leggate might have been seeking revenge after discovering the affair had resumed in September.
“If it was a competition for the affections of the girl then Mr Algar was winning,” Mr Jeyes stated.
During his evidence Algar was asked if his case was that Mr Leggate had made the highjacking up and that nothing had happened? Mr Algar claimed: “Yes, I believe so.”
But after being shown footage from the car park at Mr Leggate’s place of work Algar accepted it did appear to show another person getting into his vehicle before he left work.
Algar conceded that he had a “distinctive” Yorkshire accent which the prosecution said was recognised by Mr Leggate after the masked man spoke to him in his car.
Jurors heard Mr Leggate also became aware of a “musty, smoky” smell and during his evidence Algar confirmed that he was a smoker.
Algar also conceded the boots worn by the hooded figure in the car park appeared to be similar to his work boots.
But Algar insisted the person shown in the footage had different facial features to him.
When asked if Mr Leggate had done a good job in finding someone to look like him Algar insisted: “It would appear so.”
