Police search for key witness after tyre fitter charged with kidnapping woman

Detectives want to speak to a driver who saw a couple having an altercation in the Horsham area after an East Preston man was charged with the kidnap, harrassment and assault of a young woman.

Sussex Police believe a man driving a black car saw the couple’s conflict in a parked car just off the A24 between Dial Post and Horsham between 2pm and 3pm on Friday, July 21.

The driver, described as white man in his 50’s or 60’s, stopped and asked the couple if everything was okay. He then drove on, police said.

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Detective Constable Katy Lewis of the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: “The couple, a man and woman in their early twenties, were parked in a red Honda Civic, in a lay-by on a country road, a turning left off the northbound A24, somewhere between Dial Past and Horsham.

“We believe the driver who saw them may have valuable information to assist a current investigation. If you are that person or if you know who he is, please get in touch with us online or call 101, quoting serial 856 of 21/07.”

Steven Barnfield, 25, a tyre fitter, of Mill Pond Way, East Preston, appeared at Crawley Magistrates Court on Saturday, July 22 and was remanded in custody for trial, with an initial appearance at Lewes Crown Court on August 21. He is charged with kidnap, harassment and causing actual bodily harm to a 20-year-old woman.