TWO men who subjected a married couple to a horrifying kidnap ordeal are facing life imprisonment for their crimes.

A jury convicted ringleader Steven Howe of abducting the victims in the middle of the night from their home in the Golden Valley, Herefordshire, and hatching a plan for them to die tied up inside a blazing car.

The 51-year-old husband was badly beaten by Howe's accomplice Robert Simpson, who also raped the wife on the bonnet of her car in a lonely spot.

Howe had accused the husband of stealing a £6,000 stash of cannabis from him after it was hidden in a hedge.

The 33-year-old building worker, of Crossways, Peterchurch, sat stoney-faced in the dock after being convicted of two attempted murders, kidnap and aggravated burglary. He was cleared of aiding and abetting rape.

Mr Justice Hughes remanded him in custody for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports.

He hopes to pass sentence at Worcester Crown Court on Howe and Simpson on Wednesday, January 10.

Simpson, who gave evidence for the prosecution, has already admitted attempted murder, kidnap and rape, and is also in custody.

The maximum sentence for attempted murder and rape is life imprisonment.

Obsessed Howe first accused a Hay-on-Wye man of the drugs theft, breaking into his home three years ago and causing head injuries with a torch.

But on March 5 this year, after drinking heavily in a pub, Simpson, 24, of Primrose Close, Redhill, Hereford, cut the phone wires of the couple's house and head-butted the husband to the floor.

Drug dealer Howe kept demanding cash for his drugs as Simpson, nicknamed The Panther for his hard-man image, tortured the husband with blows and threats to cut off his fingers.

Howe, a petty crook with 24 previous convictions, warned it would only take two bullets to dispatch the couple - and mimicked cutting their throats.

Gagged and tied, the couple were driven around lanes until the car broke down. Simpson, who had drunk 15 pints of lager, raped the wife while her husband was forced to watch.

Collingwood Thompson QC, prosecuting, described a chilling conversation between the kidnappers when they decided to kill the couple to destroy evidence against them.

Simpson stuffed a burning T-shirt in the car's filler cap but the couple escaped and hid in a nearby barn before alerting police.

The 40-year-old wife later said the experience was like a horror film and her husband said their abductors had lost all respect for human life.

Howe tried to shift all the blame on to Simpson, insisting he went mad and events escalated out of his control.

But Mr Thompson said Howe was "up to his neck" in the terror and had recruited Simpson to provide the muscle.

Twist of fate saved couple from death

STEVEN Howe and Robert Simpson would almost certainly have killed their victims but for a twist of fate, according to the police officer who led the investigation.

Det Insp Dave Morgan, of West Mercia, said the abducted couple were lucky their car broke down as they were driven around the Herefordshire countryside.

He believed Simpson and Howe would have made good their threats to take the couple to the Black Mountains to kill them.

"I've no doubt that if the car hadn't broken down, and there was a very, very fortunate turn of events, that they would've been killed," said Det Insp Morgan.

"I'm certain there was the clear intention of them having tied them up in the car, of setting it alight and burning them alive."

Det Insp Morgan said Howe was "obsessed" with settling his drugs debt and finding the person responsible for taking it from a hedge hiding place.

But he believed events might have spiralled "out of control" given the 15 pints of beer Simpson had drunk before the attack.

Det Insp Morgan revealed that 60 officers were set to work on the investigation, leading to Howe's arrest within four hours of the crime coming to light on Monday, March 6, and Simpson's arrest the following day.

Although Simpson admitted all offences, a "substantial amount" of forensic evidence would have been used against him in a trial had he denied rape.

Det Insp Morgan said the couple, who have children, were still living in Herefordshire and trying to cope with the ordeal nine months later.

"I think it's fair to say the physical scars will probably heal quicker than the mental scars," he added.

"They're obviously reliving events now and I suspect for many years to come they will continue to do so.

"We just hope now the trial has concluded they can just draw a line under this incident and put the events behind them and go on to start rebuilding their lives."