A pregnant woman from Queensland who was kidnapped said the nine-hour experience killed her unborn child.
During the abduction on the Gold Coast in April 2020, Jorgia Forbes, 27, was punched and kicked by two men and a woman before being forced into a car.
As the trio accused her of stealing drugs, she was also detained at knifepoint, pushed into another ridesharing car, and dragged over fences.
She once attempted to exit a moving vehicle, but was pursued and dragged back inside while spectators on the street dialled the police.
“I recall pleading for my life and the life of my pregnant child… Ms. Forbes spoke about her captivity before the Southport District Court on Monday, saying, “I’m praying for the police to find me before they kill me.”
The perpetrators of this act lacked compassion and threatened to murder me on numerous occasions.
One of her attackers, Bodie John Collins, had just recently moved into the Aloha Apartments in Surfers Paradise when she was first taken there.
The pills that the group had claimed she had stolen reappeared when they dragged her to another residence.
Then, two of the kidnappers collapsed, but Collins was still holding her hostage.
She consumed the marijuana he gave her before being released when police discovered her the following morning.
Shortly after the incident, Hope, her baby, was born prematurely; however, two months after Hope’s birth, she passed away from a brain bleed.
Prior to the kidnapping, according to Ms. Forbes, her unborn child was healthy; nevertheless, shortly later, health problems appeared.
Collins, her third assailant, was given a three-year prison term with an April 2 parole date by Judge Jodie Wooldridge.
Despite the fact that he had already spent 114 days in pre-sentence prison, Ms. Forbes was furious with the verdict.
It was utterly heartbreaking, She admitted to the Gold Coast Bulletin, “I’m at a loss for words.
“How can someone do what he has done to an innocent person like me, the mother of two children, and get away with what he has gotten away with and serve another nine months in prison?” she said.
That is what I find incomprehensible. There are numerous issues with the legal system.
I don’t think it’s good enough.
The two defendants, Patutahora Hakaria and Grace Edmonds, received prison terms of five and three years, respectively, last year.
She had seen Collins earlier that day to assist him with a relocation before heading back home.
She left her house at 10.30 p.m. to meet him before her ordeal started after he subsequently called and said he needed a companion.
The older daughter of Ms. Forbes, who has used drugs in the past, said she has now been drug-free for six weeks.