Six people accused of kidnapping a man and holding him hostage for three days have avoided jail.
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After a four-week trial in the Launceston Supreme Court the jury delivered its verdicts.
Caine Robert Richardson, Sean Gregory Richardson, Christopher John Humphreys, Matthew Luke Williams, Malcolm Joshua Mayne and Carly Ann Dekkers were each facing a charge of kidnapping.
Mr Caine Richardson, Mr Humphreys and Mr Mayne were also facing assault charges.
Throughout the trial it was alleged the six defendants had kidnapped Victorian man Anthony Mekhael at Rocherlea in 2015, assaulted him and tried to extort money from him.
All six denied the allegations against them.
Mr Mekhael’s evidence on the trial was that he could not remember the alleged ordeal or even being in the state in 2015.
The jury spent three weeks hearing from other witnesses including police officers, forensic officers, doctors and two of the accused, Mr Caine Richardson and Mr Humphreys.
The defence maintained throughout the trial that Mr Mekhael was a convicted drug trafficker and had sought help from the defendants because he owed money to other drug dealers.
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Some of the accused initially faced additional charges.
But during the third week of the trial, the jury was directed by Justice Robert Pearce to find Ms Dekkers not guilty of perverting justice and Mr Caine Richardson, Mr Sean Richardson and Mr Humphreys not guilty of aggravated armed robbery.
On Monday the Crown closed its case and six defence lawyers began giving their final addresses which continued across three days.
It was then after two hours of deliberations on Thursday morning that the 12-member jury unanimously found all six accused not guilty on all charges.
Family and friends could be heard crying out sighs of relief as each not guilty verdict was read out.
Justice Robert Pearce personally thanked the jury, prosecutors, defence lawyers, police officers, prison officers and court staff for their time over the past four weeks.
The jury was sent home and the trial was over.
The defendants exchanged hand shakes with six smiling defence lawyers before congratulating each other.
Walking out of court a free man, Mr Mayne said he could “finally” return to a normal life.
“I was tied to this court case for two-and-a-half years, my family have been dragged into this just as much as me,” he said.
“My fate was in the hands of 12 members of the public … justice has been served.”