Swedish doctor given 10 years for bunker kidnapping

• 1 hour ago
 
• From the sectionEurope

Image copyrightSwedish police

Image captionPhoto released by Swedish police showed two rubber masks allegedly used by the defendant to abduct his victim

A Swedish doctor has been sentenced to 10 years in jail after being found guilty of kidnapping a woman and keeping her in a bunker for six days.

Martin Peter Trenneborg had admitted kidnapping her but denied and was acquitted of rape.

Dubbed the "Swedish Fritzl", he had planned to hold her captive in the purpose-built bunker for years.

The 38-year-old abducted his victim after meeting her for a date in Stockholm last September.

Arriving at her home with champagne and gifts, and pretending to be an American, he drugged her with Rohypnol-laced strawberries dipped in chocolate before kidnapping her.

He used two rubber masks, of a bearded man and an older woman, to conceal their identities, prosecutors said. He then put his victim in a wheelchair, took her to his car and drove her about 350 miles (560km) to his home near Kristianstad in southern Sweden.

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionMartin Peter Trenneborg (L) is depicted next to his lawyer Mari Schaub in a courtroom sketch

Trenneborg held his victim in a soundproofed cell he had built at his home, where she was shackled before being permitted to leave to take a shower.

According to Swedish media, the court found insufficient evidence to prove rape, and the sentence handed down was lower than the 15-16 years sought by prosecutors.

But reports suggest prosecutors are considering whether to appeal against that finding.

Trenneborg must also pay 180,000 Swedish krona (£15,000; $21,200) in damages to the victim.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionThe woman was allegedly locked in the bunker for six days

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionPolice believe the bunker, which had no windows but an exercise yard (left), was disguised as a storage outbuilding

The case has been compared with that of Austrian Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter locked up in a cellar for 24 years.

'Girlfriend experience'

The doctor was found to have drafted a "sex contract" listed sexual acts which would reduce the amount of time his victim would have to stay in the bunker - and other actions such as escape attempts that would add time.

The document, found on his computer, required her to provide a "GFE" or "girlfriend experience", such as shaving body hair and kissing him during sex.

His crimes were found out when, six days after the kidnapping, he returned to his victim's home in Stockholm to pick up some of her belongings.

Discovering that she had been registered missing, he then forced her to attend a police station with him to tell police she was safe and well and not being coerced.

But suspecting something was amiss, the police took the woman aside. She told them what had happened and Trenneborg was arrested.