Man jailed for videoing naked, tied-up kidnap victim and robbing boss’ house

Ryan Morgan Moorehead, 28, was with a group of men who kidnapped a man and left him tied up and naked on the side of a country road. Photo / Getty Images

A man videoed a kidnapping victim who was forced to sit on the side of the road naked, with his hands tied together after being driven around in the boot of a car.

While Ryan Morgan Moorehead didn’t take part in any of the beatings that were inflicted on the victim with a baton, he was in the Mazda which drove him around parts of the Waikato on September 16, 2021.

The 28-year-old was contacted by a friend who claimed the victim had ripped him off and asked for his help to “ruff up” the victim to teach him a lesson.

Moorehead agreed and told his mate to pick him up from his Te Awamutu home when he had finished work.

The pair went to a Hamilton property and met up with other associates.

Some of the associates left in the Mazda and they found the victim driving his Mitsubishi which then crashed near the intersection of Holland and Ruakura roads.

The victim tried to flee on foot but was eventually caught by the two unidentified men who hit him with the baton and put him in the boot of the car.

At some stage, Moorehead got in the car and they drove to Papesch Rd, Pirongia, where they got the victim out of the boot.

They tied his hands and then removed his pants and underwear and left him on the side of the road.

Moorehead videoed the victim as he sat on the ground crying.

When spoken to by police, Moorehead said he agreed to roughing up the victim but didn’t know he was going to be kidnapped or assaulted so badly.

In relation to the offending, Moorehead accepted a sentence indication given by Judge Kim Saunders in the Hamilton District Court in December last year.

However, just a month later, he was back in court for breaking into two homes belonging to his employers.

On one occasion he took off with their 15-year-old daughter’s $1000 in cash and stole more money from the other house while the victims were at church.

Today, he was back before Judge Saunders for sentencing on both sets of offending.

Moorehead’s counsel Kerry Burroughs said his client did have a good job but he had lost it due to the burglaries.

He had a history of “making the wrong decisions at the wrong time”, Burroughs said.

“Mr Moorehead has got to be the author of his own future.

“He’s getting to the age where he understands that.”

Burroughs said jail was the only option for sentence as Moorehead did not have a house suitable for home detention.

Judge Saunders said she had to consider an additional sentence for the two burglaries, a crime which often left victims filled with anxiety after someone had rifled through their belongings.

She also took into account his upbringing, which reports had shown was linked to his offending, and his remorse.

After taking an overall start point of three years and six months, and then applying various discounts, he was jailed for two years and one month.

Belinda Feek has been a reporter for 19 years, and at the Herald for eight years, joining the Open Justice team in 2022.