Victim says attackers tied him up and threatened his daughter

A man told the District Court of South Iceland on Thursday that he was tied by his hands and feet, beaten and kicked during an alleged assault at his home, mbl.is reports. He said he was then sent badly injured to Malta by plane.

The man is the complainant in the Reykholt case. Six Icelanders are accused of breaking into his home on the evening of 19 April 2024, carrying out an exceptionally serious and dangerous assault and depriving him of his freedom in order to obtain money from him.

All the defendants have testified in court. Ingunn Rut Sigurðardóttir has pleaded guilty to the most serious charges against her.

The first day of the main proceedings was spent listening to recordings of calls from Andri Már Mortensen Birgisson’s phone. The recordings have provided information about the events of the weekend.

Some elements of the complainant’s account conflict with the case evidence, including the call recordings and the defendants’ statements. He said he did not remember every detail precisely, but was nevertheless fairly certain about his account.

He said four people arrived at his home on Friday evening: Andri, Andri’s fiancée Ingunn, a large man and a small man. He was unsure who the smaller man was, but said it could have been Andri’s younger brother. He said that man punched him once.

“They all came in together. The large man grabbed me and held me while Andri and his girlfriend punched me, and when I was lying on the floor they kicked me,” the complainant said.

He said the large man put him in a headlock and held him down, but did not hit him.

“After that they started beating me until I was bleeding, and then they put something around my hands and feet and threw me into the shower.”

He said Andri then tied his hands and feet with a plastic-like material, leaving him in the shower until Monday.

The complainant said Andri was armed that evening and brought weapons into the flat, including a relatively large gun, but did not use the weapons against him. He said Andri did threaten him with a knife.

“He only used his hands to hit me. But he put a knife to my throat.”

When shown a photograph of a sawn-off shotgun found at Andri and Ingunn’s home, the complainant identified it as the gun used to threaten him.

He said Ingunn arrived at the scene with Andri and the two men on Friday evening. This differs from statements by Ingunn and Andri’s younger brother, who said she was driven to Reykholt by the brother at around 4am.