Kidnappers who tortured man are jailed for 15 years

heard how on January 26 this year the pair went to Dewar’s home in West Park Terrace in the Healey area of Batley and tied him up and assaulted him in the cellar, while his young son, heavily-pregnant girlfriend and her dad were upstairs.

They then pulled his hat down over his eyes and bundled him into a car, taking him to a flat in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr, where the occupant was paid £500 for the use of the flat.

There, he was stripped, held down on the sofa while he said one of the men ‘held my legs above my head like you’d change a baby’s bum’ and had boiling water poured over his buttocks and genitals.

Other weapons used to threaten or assault him included axes, a baseball bat, a hammer and a knife.

Anthony Dunne, prosecuting, said: “His kidnappers, to amuse themselves, made him dance and sing old Whitney Houston songs.”

Dewar was then made to have a shower ‘to wash blood away and stop him leaving traces in the flat.’

The court heard that after 11 hours Hussain eventually fell asleep and Dewar managed to escape by cutting himself free with a blade and running home .

He suffered broken bones in his nose, cheeks and upper and lower jaws, bruising and swelling to his face and arms and blisters, skin loss and reddening on his legs, buttocks and genitals.

Just several days earlier, the pair had threatened Dewar and his girlfriend, with Clarke holding a knife to her bump and warning: “You better start talking or I’m gonna cut it out.”

Dewar and his family have since had to leave their home.

Jon Mitchell, mitigating for Hussain, said his client is a married dad-of-five who works for a removals company and in a factory.

He described Hussain, who had a previous conviction for possession of a Class B drug, as a ‘link in the chain’ in the drugs business.

Khadim Al’Hassan, mitigating for Clarke, said his client is also a dad and a former professional footballer who moved into working in the music industry.

He denied that Clarke had a leading role in the offences.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Robin Mairs described them as ‘ringleaders’ and said: “The backdrop to these offences is the trade of Class A drugs.

“It is a lucrative trade carried out by those with no regard for the law.

“The stakes are high and ... those involved have little compulsion in resorting to violence.”

The Examiner successfully challenged a court order postponing reporting on the case until the conclusion of possible linked proceedings.