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Burned, beaten and bound: Teen thugs jailed for torture of former friend

Two teenage thugs who tortured a former friend after he interfered with their love life have been locked up for a total of almost 11 years.

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The victim was burned, beaten, bound and battered while held captive for over nine hours by Marcus Ghent and Liam Till, both aged 18.

Brendan Povey, also 18, was targeted after supposedly telling a girl that Till was cheating on her and being responsible for the break up of the relationship of Ghent, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

He was tied hand and foot to both a chair and bed, had bleach poured over his head and body and was repeatedly punched and kicked during the terrifying ordeal at the Stag Hill Road,Walsall home of Till that began late on October 1, explained Mr Peter McCartney, prosecuting.

Mr Povey - who thought the pair were his friends - was invited to the address and initially given a beer before becoming engaged in a 'play fight' that rapidly turned ugly.

The attackers produced a machete and crow bar and took him upstairs where he was tied to a chair with plastic strips, cable and bits of a towel, continued the prosecutor.

The victim was beaten up, bundled into a cupboard for a short time before being brought out and covered in bleach that burned his back. Then Mr Povey was doused with an aerosol in a failed bid to set him on fire. A trainer he was wearing caught light but was removed before it did any damage, the court was told.

Ghent made a 30 second video of part of the attack before the duo left the room for a short period during which the victim overheard them on a phone asking where a body could be hidden.

Mr Povey freed a hand to make an emergency call on his mobile to police that connected but the thugs returned before he could speak to the operator, continued Mr McCartney, who added: "He was too frightened to fight back." Till then bit the hand of the victim after giving the impression the ordeal was over by offering to shake hands.

The two attackers then fell asleep and the victim managed to free himself and escape around 8am the following morning. He suffered cuts and bruises to his head and hands and burns to the back caused by the bleach. His culpits were still asleep when officers raided the house.

Ghent from Gough Street, Willenhall was freed on bail and caught selling heroin and cocaine in Hereford by officers who found him with 40 £10 street deals of the drugs on February 26.

Mr Gurdeep Garcha, for Till, said: "This was disgraceful offending which he bitterly regrets during which humiliation was heaped on him." Miss Michelle Heeley, representing Ghent, commented: "This was youthful offending. The weapons were not used."

Both defendants admitted false imprisonment and assault with Ghent further pleading guilty to possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply. He was ordered to be detained for six years three months while Till received a four year eight month term.

They will have the period of licence during which they will be monitored following release extended by two years after Judge Kristina Montgomery QC ruled they represented a continuing danger to the public.

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