BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):
BARBADOS HAS allowed five British nationals jailed on kidnapping charges to go home for the Christmas holidays but ordered them to return to face trial.
Adam Henson, 24, Damien Henson, 31, Stuart Williams, 25, Jason Foster, 37, and Arthur Watts, 40, were arrested June 27 and accused of kidnapping John Watts, Arthur's brother, and John Watts' girlfriend.
Chief Magistrate Clyde Nicholls, in a court hearing Tuesday, returned their passports, telling them to return to Barbados by February 20 or forfeit their bond, which totals US$90,000.
The five have been free on bail since October. Watts' bail was set at US$40,000, the others at US$10,000 each.
"If you do not return as agreed, we can charter a flight and get you in a matter of hours," Nicholls said
A trial date has not been set, but they are scheduled to reappear in court on February 28.
The kidnapping occurred on June 25, when John Watts, 49, and Annaclaudia De'Enjoy, 38 - a Spanish national - were forced into a car in a neighbourhood in eastern Barbados known for its drug gangs.
The five were arrested at a house in a resort area in western Barbados. The two captives were released unharmed.
John Watts and De'Enjoy are Barbados residents. Their alleged kidnappers arrived in Barbados on June 15, ostensibly on vacation.
Kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of life in prison in Barbados, a former British colony of 277,000 residents.
