A FORMER Huddersfield student has been found guilty of kidnap.

Greek engineer Ioannis Revenikiotis, who is accused of killing Stephanie Hammill after she jumped or fell from his moving car in Wakefield, has been found guilty of kidnapping the 20-year-old travel agent.

But the jury were continuing their deliberations today on the manslaughter charge.

The jury brought in the kidnapping verdict at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday afternoon.

They sat until 5pm on the manslaughter charge, but were then sent home for the night and asked to resume their deliberations

The court has heard how Revenikiotis, 28, of School Crescent, Dewsbury, picked up Miss Hammill as she was looking to flag down a taxi with her boyfriend, James Garland, in Wakefield in November, 2003.

His Mercedes car sped off, leaving Mr Garland behind.

Miss Hammill’s body was found lying in the road on the edge of the city.

She had been hit by another vehicle, the jury heard.

The court heard how Miss Hammill, who had worked as a travel agent in Wakefield, got into the Mercedes following a night out in the city as she was trying to flag down taxis with Mr Garland.

But the car sped off with one of Miss Hammill’s legs still sticking out of the open rear door, leaving Mr Garland alone on the pavement.

The jury heard how Miss Hammill died a short time later after she somehow got out of the moving Mercedes as it was leaving the city and was then hit by a taxi coming the other way.

Revenikiotis, who graduated from Huddersfield University, denies manslaughter and kidnap.

Mr Alistair MacDonald, prosecuting, had told the jury of three men and nine women how Miss Hammill and Mr Garland had enjoyed a night out in Wakefield city centre when they were walking home in the early hours of November 29, 2003.

The jury watched CCTV footage of the couple walking arm-in-arm out of the city centre after visiting a club.

Other footage also showed Mr Garland running to raise the alarm with officers in a police van which had passed him.

The police in it took him to look for Miss Hammill.

Mr MacDonald said that Revenikiotis was eventually tracked down and arrested in Greece.

The trial has run for almost five weeks.