by Julia Roberts

A young father was repeatedly punched and ordered to strip naked during an alleged kidnap ordeal after he was falsely accused of rape, a court heard.

Ben Johnson, 19, was forced into a car and then driven to a secluded and isolated bridge over a railway line, jurors were told.

He was allegedly targeted by a group of three men and a 16-year-old boy who believed "vicious" rumours that Mr Johnson had sexually attacked a teenage girl and hit her with a hammer.

Mr Johnson was said to have been punched and kicked outside a flat in Alamein Gardens, Stone, last September before being frogmarched to a car and taken to Stone Crossing railway station.

But Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Johnson was innocent of any wrongdoing and, when one of his alleged kidnappers threatened to kill Mr Johnson's baby daughter, he fought back.

Mr Johnson is said to have punched Joshua Caird, 24, to the ground. This caused Caird and his brother, James, 22, to return to the car, driven by 20-year-old Shane Lording, and, together with the 16-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, to leave the area, the court heard.

An injured, distressed and crying Mr Johnson, who said he refused to remove his clothes, fled to a nearby branch of Burger King and the police were called.

Joshua Caird, of Almond Road, Dartford, and the boy, also from Dartford, deny kidnap and causing actual bodily harm.

"if you tell the police who i am, i'm going to find you and kill you…” – what ben johnson was allegedly told by joshua caird

Caird, described by the prosecution as "the director of operations", is also accused of intimidation of Mr Johnson by threatening to kill him two days later.

The jury was told James Caird, also of Almond Road, and Lording, of Chaucer Way, Dartford, have admitted kidnap and causing actual bodily harm.

However, prosecutor Jeffrey Israel warned their guilty pleas did not "in any way" establish "or even suggest" the guilt of Joshua Caird and the teenager.

Joshua Caird was the last of the four defendants to be arrested. Mr Israel told the court Mr Johnson saw Caird "by chance" in Dartford town centre on September 14.

Caird is alleged to have told him: "If you tell the police who I am, I'm going to find you and kill you. I know you have told the police because three have already been nicked."

Caird was arrested and made no comment in his interview. Mr Israel told the court he denies any involvement and claims it was a case of mistaken identification.

The 16-year-old denied any involvement.

The trial continues.