A SHOPKEEPER and his neighbour have been accused of kidnapping a notorious graffiti vandal and making him apologise for abusing a woman outside his shop.

Hiren Patel, aged 48, who runs a grocery shop in Lewis Road, Sidcup, and Paul Catlow, aged 25, who lives in Lewis Road, have denied kidnap and common assault at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Catlow also denies a second assault charge and possession of an offensive weapon.

The court heard the 15-year-old vandal, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was one of a group of youths causing a nusiance outside Patel's shop on the evening of August 23 last year.

They were playing football near the entrance and intimidating people.

The teenager, who admits to receiving police reprimands and fines for causing thousands of pounds of damage to buses wih his graffiti tag, claims he was dragged off the street and into Patel's van, by Catlow and Patel.

Catlow had accused the youth of verbally abusing his mother outside the shop several days earlier.

It is alleged Catlow and Patel then took matters into their own hands, turning vigilante to make the boy apologise.

The boy told the court the kidnap took place in Princess Close, and he was taken to a house in nearby Faraday Avenue, Sidcup, where Catlow's mother lived.

He said the van door was unlocked and he was taken into the house, where he was forced to his knees and made to say sorry.

The boy said: "I was pushed to the floor. Mr Catlow spat at me, a deliberate spit."

The teenager claims he was then kicked in the stomach and back and repeatedly punched.

One of his friends had alerted the police after seeing Catlow chase the teenager down the street, armed with a hammer, before they disappeared from sight.

The teenager admitted there was a "battle" between him and residents.

But he added: "Even to this very day, though Mr Catlow may not live there anymore, I still get nervous walking past Lewis Road."

The trial continues.