THREE men from Hatfield – including an aspiring rapper – have been found guilty of robbery.

But the trio were cleared of kidnapping their victim from outside a pub at knifepoint.

The prosecution had claimed Adil Agdour – nicknamed Colossal due to his size – abducted and robbed Warren Chapman along with accomplices David Chitungo, known as Blazeman, and Lroy Scott, aka Drafty.

Agdour, a part-time recovery driver looking to break into the music business as a rapper, is alleged to have forced Mr Chapman into his own car from outside a pub in Hatfield before threatening him with a knife.

St Albans Crown Court heard Mr Chapman, known as Chappie, was abducted outside the Cavendish Arms, Hatfield, on Saturday, May 16 last year.

He was driven around in his own car, threatened and punched by Chitungo before being robbed of �140, the jury was told.

Agdour, 22, of Haltside, was the first of the three to be arrested the next day after Mr Chapman reported the incident.

He refused to answer police questions, but took to the witness box to claim Mr Chapman had made the story up after Agdour quizzed him about a debt owned to a friend.

Agdour said in fact Mr Chapman voluntarily drove them to The Tavern pub in Welwyn, where he even bought Mr Chapman a drink.

George Heimler, prosecuting, asked Agdour why he had not offered the alibi to police as it would have “killed” the case against him “stone dead”.

Agdour said he was going on the instructions of his solicitor, was not thinking straight and had not taken the allegations “seriously”.

During cross-examination, jurors were told about a previous conviction Agdour had for robbery, after the defendant claimed he was of good character.

Agdour said: “I never kidnapped or robbed anyone. I am not that type of person. I have not been brought up like that.”

As a result the prosecution was allowed to tell the jury how, as a 15-year-old, Agdour was that “type of person” and had robbed a schoolboy of a mobile phone and threatened violence if he told anyone.

Chitungo, 20, of Crawford Road, told the jury he had been at the same pub, The Tavern, watching the Manchester United v Arsenal game with the other two defendants and Mr Chapman.

He denied punching Mr Chapman and added he had also been following the advice of his solicitor, by failing to disclose the pub alibi to police.

Scott, 20, of Crawford Road, exercised his right not to give evidence.

All three were found guilty of robbery but cleared of kidnap by a jury on Thursday.

Sentencing was adjourned until August for reports.