Six in court on abduction and firearms charges after alleged Edinburgh kidnap

Six people have appeared in court charged with abduction, assault and firearms offences after a 22-year-old man was allegedly kidnapped in Edinburgh.

The man was reportedly abducted at about 22:30 last Thursday but was traced the following day during a police operation in the East Lothian village of Longniddry.

Bugra Has, 21, Achile Keita, 23, Mustafa Merghani, 22, Ashawn Studholme, 21, Robert McKinney, 45 and Danielle Whyte, 40, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.

All six made no plea to the charges and were remanded in custody.

The A198 road through Longniddry was closed for several hours during the police operation last Friday.

Police later said they had made six arrests in connection with the alleged abduction of a 22-year-old man in the Canonmills areas of Edinburgh.

Keita, of no fixed abode, Studholme, from Glasgow, Has and Merghani, both from Edinburgh, McKinney and Whyte, both from East Lothian, all faced allegations of abduction, assault to severe injury and intent to rob during the private hearing.

They each also faced three allegations under the Firearms Act 1968.