Unit 6 crime and accidents text 1. Triumph of kidnap jenny

Jennifer Guinness told last night how a mixture of anger and determination kept her going during her eight-day kidnap ordeal.

And it became clear that it was her remarkable courage in the last desperate hours which saved her life.

“What helped me through was a conviction that they were not going to get to me”, said Mrs Guinness just hours after she was freed.

“I had no doubt that much of the time my life was in danger. But I couldn’t afford to let myself lose hope. I was going to come out mentally and physically intact”.

Mrs Guinness, 48, showed no signs of exhaustion as she joked with her husband, merchant banker John Guinness, 51.

She said that she told her abductors their ransom demand of 2 million was “crazy”. When Mr Guinness was asked whether he ever had any intention of paying the ransom he replied firmly: “No”.

Mrs Guinness, feigning mock anger, nudged him and said: “I hope you were, surely!”

She confirmed that the kidnappers originally intended to snatch her 23-year-old daughter Gillian. But she persuaded them to take her instead. “I suppose I pleaded with them that I would be much better. John would pay more for me, she said with a grin. But despite her easy-going manner, it was clear that for much of the time she suffered great discomfort.

Each time the kidnappers changed base she was bundled into the boot of a car. At other times she was tied up with masking tape stuck over her eyes.

She was determined, she said, to make a nuisance of herself. “It made me feel better”.

She added: “My reputation, thanks to the newspapers, was of a strong woman. I’m sure they were very pleased to see the back of me”.

But it was in the final hours of her ordeal that Mrs Guinness showed the most astonishing bravery.

The panicking kidnappers, surrounded by armed police, held a gun to her head and threatened to blow her head off. Yet Mrs Guinness remained calm.

With armed police surrounding the kidnappers in a flat in Dublin, they became jumpy. But she calmly reasoned with them, pointing out the futility of their position and gently persuading them that they had no choice but to give themselves up.

Mrs Guinness told them that to take her life could only make matters worse for them.

Her softly-softly approach paid off. At first light yesterday the two remaining kidnappers walked from the flat in the Ballsbridge district of Dublin with their hands up and surrendered.

Mrs Guinness was free. The prayers of her family had been answered. The breakthrough in the hunt came when police spotted two known criminals driving a hired car, which finally led them to the gang’s lair.

On Tuesday evening they swooped on a luxury home in the suburb of Rathfarnam. It was empty but they were convinced that Mrs Guinness had been there.

The action rapidly moved to Waterloo Road in Ballsbridge. Just after midnight police found the hired car parked outside No 51.

Five minutes later one of the kidnappers, named as Tony Kelly, was seen leaving the house. He began firing at police. They returned fire and Kelly was overpowered.

One of the gunmen came to a window and shouted “We’ve got her inside. You had better back off or we will blow her head off”.

Police then retreated and a trained negotiator was brought in.

At exactly 6.30 the two gunmen gave themselves up. They were followed out by Mrs Guinness.