British man sentenced to 14 years over kidnapping of French hotel heiress

Jacqueline Veyrac, hotel heiress

Credit: VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images

A French court on Wednesday handed 14- and 18-year prison terms to a Briton and an Italian man accused of kidnapping an ageing hotel heiress in the French city of Nice four years ago.

Giuseppe Serena, 67, was among 13 people on trial over the plot against Jacqueline Veyrac, owner of the five-star Grand Hotel in Cannes and the ritzy Mediterranean seafront restaurant La Reserve in Nice.

Prosecutors accused Serena of seeking revenge for Ms Veyrac’s decision to terminate his contract to rent the restaurant in 2009 after it ran into financial difficulties.

Philip Dutton, a 52-year-old former British soldier who helped Serena and demanded the €5m (£4.4) ransom for her release, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Six others were also given sentences of up to 15 years in prison, while five people were acquitted.

Ms Veyrac, now 80, was snatched on the street on October 24, 2016, and bundled into the back of a van.

She was held bound and gagged for two days in the vehicle, which was parked on a quiet street, before being spotted by a passerby and released.