They (allegedly) tried to do the crime—and man, oh man, are they going to do some time.
The two Manchester men who have been charged with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and conspiracy to commit robbery in their (luckily) foiled plan to kidnap and possibly murder singer Joss Stone appeared in court this morning to face their serious dual charges.
So what happened? And did they actually fess up to their horrific plan?
Respectively: not much. And no. At least, not yet.
Junior Bradshaw, 30, and Kevin Liverpool, 33, who were handcuffed to officers for the duration of their appearance, spoke only to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth while appearing in Exeter Crown Court today. The duo was not asked to enter a plea today, but instead were remanded back into custody pending their next court appearance, schedule for July 1.
Attorneys for the men requested bail, though the judge denied it. As for their would-be crime, details of the plot were outlined during the court hearing, though the British press cannot yet reveal the exact details of their plan (the U.K. legal system is not one to release details, names or even mug-shots of suspects before the justice process is complete, let alone details of alleged crimes).
But it's safe to assume what they had in mind was pretty grizzly.
During the brief session, it was revealed that Bradshaw, who donned a light grey sweatshirt and had his hair in braids for the court appearance, and Liverpool, who was wearing a black T-shirt, were toting balaclavas, knives, a hammer, gloves, a samurai sword, documents and notes referring to Stone, and detailed maps of the villages of Langford and Cullompton, the area in which Joss has a home (which she luckily did not appear to be in at the time of the men's arrest).
As for the 24-year-old Grammy winner, she issued a brief statement on the incident yesterday, reassuring fans that she's "absolutely fine and getting on with life as normal while the police continue with their enquiries."
She's currently preparing to launch her European tour next month—we're guessing right about now she might be increasing her security budget for the road.