A YORK woman kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend and his new partner said watching the pair jailed for more than ten years between them marked the end of a terrifying nightmare for her.

Jeanette Matthews, 35, told the Evening Press she had been living in fear since the kidnappers forced their way into her home and made her remove £880 from cashpoints during a 90-minute ordeal before dumping her in a deserted field.

Yesterday, Richard Garner, 36, and Tracey Hodgson, 35, were jailed after a jury found them guilty of kidnap and blackmail on May 24, 2003.

The jurors had been told how Garner and Hodgson forced their way into Miss Matthews' home in Theresa Close, Huntington, threatened her with a car jack and searched the property for money.

They found three bank cards, drove a frightened Miss Matthews to two cash machines and forced her to withdraw cash. She was then left in an isolated playing field.

Miss Matthews, who watched the pair sentenced at York Crown Court, said she had lived under a cloud of fear since the attack, despite moving house and changing jobs.

She said the close support of her family, in particular her mother, had helped her put her life back together again.

"I used to be quite happy, but for the past nine months I haven't been able to go out alone. I'm relieved that they can't hurt me any more.

"No one can imagine what I have been through. It's been hell and I'm pleased it's over."

The Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, told Hodgson, of Cranfield Place, Foxwood, that she was a "manipulative character" and responsible for a "tide of violence". She was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Garner, of Dringfield Close, Dringhouses, was jailed for four years and nine months. Three months were added to his sentence for breaching a community rehabilitation order relating to motoring offences committed in October, 2001.

Judge Hoffman said: "What happened was a terrifying and violent incident and the complainant was a very vulnerable woman. She was subjected to threats. She was subjected by you, Hodgson, to quite gratuitous violence."

Updated: 10:32 Tuesday, February 24, 2004