By the time they turned down Doctors Point Road, a .223 rifle pointed at his knees, he figured it was up.
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Bundled into their car, threatened with being "buried" and accused of ripping-off "crack cash" from one of the pair's ex-girlfriend, the outlook was grim.
No angel himself - just a couple of months before he too had been in Albury Local Court, having admitted to trying to choke his partner - "Luke" (not his real name) was terrified by what he reckoned he couldn't escape.
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"The victim," magistrate Richard Funston has been told, "feared for his life, believing he would be shot."
He'd been expecting their arrival.
A few hours earlier, on visiting a mate at a South Albury boarding house, The Palms, Luke had been warned.
"Matty Duncan," the woman, a lodger in a downstairs unit told him, wanted to "put holes in you because you have been sleeping with his ex ... "
The bravado of his reply - "bring it on, we were supposed to meet up in the park near Wodonga hospital two days ago after talking on Facebook" - melted away as he tried to fall asleep in a mate's place, also at The Palms.
The friend was already out cold, but he just couldn't; he was too uneasy about the earlier conversation.
He did drift off, only to be woken by the din of someone shouting his name, attached to a threatening "ya dog!".
Before the day had barely broken he'd be forcing his escape from his kidnappers' car, which they then used to chase him through the thick Mungabareena Reserve scrub, and diving into the Murray River.
He'd get out, then jump back in when he heard the sound of a car engine; over and over again until he saw a fisherman, who called police.
Duncan, 25, and Barrett, who has since turned 23, were always going to get caught, as it turned out, as their amateurish thuggery was laid bare before the whole escapade could descend into tragedy, even with their true intentions not having been revealed in court.
After they arrived at The Palms, closed-circuit television cameras captured the kidnapping - Duncan with his rifle and Barrett, who had a tomahawk, as they hurried Luke away.
The pair have now languished in jail for several months, after initially wishing to fight the charges.
But a case conference between their lawyers and the office of the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions meant the prospect of either separate or joint District Court trials was averted.
"The case conference has been successful," DPP representative Caitlin Murphy told Mr Funston, "so the matter is going to the District Court for sentence."
For Duncan, that will be on a charge of kidnap in company with the intention of committing a serious indictable offence in company of occasioning actual bodily harm.
Ms Murphy withdrew charges of special aggravated enter dwelling with intent with a dangerous weapon, carry a firearm likely to injure a person and two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of others.
Likewise, Barrett will be sentenced on the kidnapping charge, with lesser charges of second-offence driving while disqualified, dangerous driving and using an unregistered vehicle to also travel to the District Court.
He, too, had the two assault occasioning and the special aggravated burglary charges withdrawn.
The pair's arrest, the court has now been told, came out of a series of events that began on January 18 about 10.30am.
That was when Luke went to The Palms, down the southern end of David Street, opposite Browns Lagoon.
As the name suggests, two giant palms straddle either side of the front entrance of the grey, rendered, pitched-roof main building, which has five units upstairs and three downstairs. Another four units are in a separate building out back.
Around 4.30pm, Luke was told the woman living downstairs wanted to talk to him, so he went to her unit to receive his "Matty Duncan" warning.
Twelve hours later, on stirring to the shouting, Barrett and Duncan entered the unit. Duncan produced the rifle and pointed it at Luke's knees as he sat on a couch, while Barrett stood next to him with the tomahawk.
"You're going in the ground," Duncan threatened. When Luke asked why, Barrett replied: "You're coming with us."
He didn't argue. Luke walked outside under threat of their arsenal. This was the scene captured, albeit hazily, on The Palms' security cameras.
The pair forced him into the back of their car, with Barrett taking the driver's seat and Duncan the front passenger seat. Duncan turned to face Luke and, again, pointed the .223 at his knees.
Luke pleaded with them to stop as Barrett drove off, convinced he was about to be shot. Duncan repeated his "you belong in the ground" warning before punching Luke several times to the mouth.
He bled and his mouth immediately swelled.
Once again, Luke asked "why?"
"You stole money from (Duncan' ex-girlfriend) Anna (not her real name) and demanded crack from her, that is the reason why we're taking you." Duncan called Anna and asked: "Has Luke stolen crack money from you?" "Yes," she said. When Luke asked to talk to her, Duncan yelled: "Shut up c ... or I'll shoot you in the knees."
"Make sure the safety is on," Barrett told Duncan. "Use the Taser".
When they reached Mungabareena, Luke took his chance. He grabbed the rifle barrel and began to wrestle with Duncan for control of the gun.
Barrett stopped the car and got out, at which point Luke kicked open the door, knocking Barrett backwards. As Luke fled, Barrett used the back end of the tomahawk to hit him three times on the arm.
They took after Luke in their car, so into the water he went.
And waited.
- The sentence hearing for Matthew Ian Duncan and Noel Barrett will be mentioned before the District Court in Albury on July 31