A thug who kidnapped, assaulted and sexually humiliated a drug dealer in a 'grotesque' 12-hour torture campaign has been jailed. Anthony Richardson, 29, abducted the victim from a street close to his home in Blackley at 7.30pm on November 12, 2019.
The married father was then dragged into a car and taken to the nearby house of a drug addict mother, where he was subjected to horrific violence by a gang of at least eight men. During the 12-hour ordeal, the victim was tied up, beaten, had boiling water poured onto his genitals and had what he believed to be rat poison forced down his throat as the attackers demanded a six-figure payment.
Richardson, who inflicted the majority of violence against the man, has been locked up for his role in what the judge called a 'grotesque' crime, Manchester Evening News reports. Describing the victim's trauma, prosecutor Alexandra Sutton told Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday: "He was imprisoned and assaulted over a number of hours.
"Demands were made that unless he handed over a six-figure quantity of cash, he would be gravely injured if not killed. (The victim) was assaulted in the kitchen and living room.
"He was punched in the face, dragged around rooms downstairs, kicked, stamped on, struck with a chair and had his head struck against a wall. He was tied to a chair in the kitchen: his hands were bound with the cord from a set of hair clippers, his feet were bound with rope and a jumper wrapped around his neck.
"His face was covered with a sheet. The violence continued when he was tied up. (The victim) was carried into the living room. He was instructed not to look at anybody. He repeated that he had no money to give them. This was met with more beatings."
When the victim told them he didn't have the money, his captors unleashed 'extreme and sometimes cruel and degrading violence', said the prosecutor. The gang produced a needle and threatened to inject him with heroin.
Later, they pulled down his trousers and Richardson sexually humiliated the man. The gang boiled a kettle in front of their victim and when he still insisted he didn't have the money, and Richardson and another gang member poured the water into torso and genitals, the court was told.
The gang stuffed a sock into their victim's mouth and taped it shut. "He feared he was going to suffocate. In desperation he lashed out until one offender acted on the danger and cut away the tape," said Ms Alexandra.
The prosecutor went on: "(The victim) was forced to swallow tablets. He was told that they contained rat poison and in two doses quantities of tablets were forced in his mouth followed by water to force them down his throat."
The victim thought he was drowning. It was only later toxicology tests revealed the pills were an antidepressant rather than rat poison.
Another of his captors, Llewellyn Campbell, who appeared to be the gang's leader, removed his mask and, the court heard, told the victim: "You know I'm not playing about, mate, you know I'm not messing, you know, you better get me some money or you're gonna be severely, severely hurt and you won't be going back to your wife and kids the same."
The man was then led upstairs and locked in a wardrobe. The court heard he was so distressed he urinated.
After he had been held captive for 12 hours, the man managed to bite through his bindings, forced open the wardrobe and ran out of the house, pursued by one of his captors who chased him with a hammer as he begged for help from passers-by.
The victim suffered a number of injuries in the onslaught, including burns, but none of them were serious. The court heard that the victim declined to provide a victim personal statement for the sentencing hearing.
But in his police interview he said his kidnapping had been 'an absolute nightmare'. He reported that he suffered sleepless nights, often woke up sweating and suffered from anxiety, depression and sometimes felt suicidal
"It’s mentally broke me down," he told officers. Richardson had convictions from his youth for assault, robbery and possessing a knife but since 2014 his only court appearance were for motoring offences.
Andrew Alty, defending, pointed to a report by the probation service which noted his client was 'genuinely sorry' for what he had done and that he wanted to address his offending behaviour while behind bars.
The barrister said his client had already serviced 938 days on remand awaiting sentence and that he had entered his guilty pleas 14 months ago.
Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told Richardson his victim had suffered 'violent and humiliating treatment', most of it inflicted by the defendant and a second member of the gang, Richard Simanis, and that it had had a 'profound effect' on him.
"You were present and participated in most if not all of the acts of violence," said the judge, adding, however, that she accepted he had shown 'genuine remorse'.
She characterised the campaign of torture as 'quite grotesque offending'. Richardson, of Anthony Close in Gorton, pleaded guilty to kidnap and false imprisonment on the basis that although he took part in the violence there was no actual injury or no intention to cause serious harm. He was jailed for 13-and-a-half years and told he must serve two thirds of the sentence before he can be release on licence.
Last month Campbell, 26, of Derville Road in Harpurhey, was jailed for 15 years for his part in the torture. He pleaded guilty to kidnap and was found guilty of false imprisonment following a trial. He was on bail for serious drugs offences at the time of the kidnapping.
Another member of the gang, John Robertson, 23, of Waterson Avenue in Moston, was jailed for 18 months. He pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.
Richard Simanis, 29, of Lord Street in Stockport, is to be sentenced at a later date. He has pleaded guilty to kidnap and false imprisonment.
Kai East, 22, of Turves Road in Cheadle Hulme, was due to be sentenced for assisting an offender but he did not appear in court on Tuesday.
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