Woman begged for her life as 'friends' tied her up with cables in six-hour torture ordeal

Woman begged for her life as 'friends' tied her up with cables in six-hour torture ordeal Shevonne Wright and Jeanette Martin lured a woman to a drug den in Leeds, Yorkshire, and subjected her to the ordeal as the victim told a court she was sure she 'would die' there A troubled woman was lured to a drug den and tied with electric cables before being robbed and tortured by her so-called friends for more than six hours. Jeanette Martin, 33, worked alongside fellow addict Shevonne Wright, 42, to attack the woman at the property that was used by drug users in Harehills, Leeds, on November 16 last year. Appearing over video link to Leeds Crown Court from separate rooms at HMP New Hall, the court heard she had been approached by Martin to help with decorating a property in Bayswater Grove, and travelled by bus the following day to meet her before they subjected their victim to the ordeal. Prosecutor Shannon Woodley informed the court that the victim had previously been known to both defendants, but had moved from the area at the time she was enticed to the drug den. She told the court: "Jeanette Martin appeared to come from a different street and took her into a property where the door was open. It appeared to be vacant with rubbish everywhere. "She was taken upstairs to an attic room where there was a makeshift mattress and she was told to sit down. Shevonne Wright came in and began to attack her and Jeanette Martin joined in." The pair began to rain punches on the woman before Martin told Wright to "get her legs" and they tied her up using electrical cables. It was said Wright then sat on the woman's chest and punched her. Ms Woodley said: "Jeanette Martin tied the cable around her neck, strangling her until she lost consciousness. The beating continued and Jeanette Martin threatened to kill her and she begged for her life and to see her children. They continued to punch her when she was put onto her back." The pair then took £70 in cash from the woman, as well as her bank card and phone. She was ordered to give them her code and PIN number, which she did, reports Leeds Live. Martin was then ordered to take the bank card to an ATM and withdraw cash. The court heard she took £160 from the woman's account while Wright, of Raincliffe Road, Leeds, stayed with her and continued to hold her against her will. The woman described watching Wright as she carried out phone calls in her vicinity, telling the people on the other end: "I have got this b**** tied up" and "She had to deal with her as she had ruined her day." She said Wright continued the beating, hitting her over the head with the phone and stamping on her back. Ms Woodley said: "She said she was going to leave her tied up with socks in her mouth so no one could hear her screaming. She was kept there for hours in a cycle of beatings." The court heard Wright made a man aware who attended and eventually untied the woman and took her home, where she called the police. Wright and Martin were arrested and answered "no comment" in interview but went on to plead guilty to robbery, after a trial had been listed. It was said DNA evidence put them and the victim at the scene, and their phones showed conversations about their plan and the woman's movements including one from Martin that read: "She's coming at 2pm." Another said: "Doors open." In a victim impact statement, the woman said: "I met Shevonne Wright in October 2024 and became friends. She started to come to mine to visit and we used to talk about our past experiences and life. We got on well but she used to get angry a lot for no apparent reason. "I tried to defend myself but Jeanette Martin joined in. I was begging her to stop. I couldn't breathe and tried telling her but she said she didn't care and would kill me. I was so terrified I was going to die I wet myself and they laughed and called me a dirty b****. They beat me for hours. I was sore for weeks and struggled to eat. "Jeanette Martin went and left me at the house and I thought I would die there. It was the worst experience of my life and I will never get over what happened to me." The woman said since the robbery she has been reliving what happened and told the court in her statement: "I have totally isolated myself because I don't trust anyone. I don't have any friends. I have thought about [taking my life] as I'm terrified when they are released they will come and find me and seek revenge on me for going to the police. "I never thought I'd be terrified to leave my home. That's what my life is like." The woman said she suffers from nightmares and her doctor believes she has complex post-traumatic stress disorder. She said: "I trusted them at one point and thought they were my friends. I never did anything to them and wanted to help them in any way I could and I will never trust anyone because of that." The court heard Wright had 37 previous offences on her record for crimes, some of which were violent, while Martin had 29 offences on hers for mostly dishonesty and drug possession. At the time of the robbery, she was the subject of a suspended sentence. Mr Foley said Wright had a "spell of six years" without offending and she had a robbery conviction on her record from when she was 13. He said she was "anxious to explain" about her family, including her father who had died, and her mother. His Honour Judge Clark jailed both Wright and Martin for six years and two months and made them the subjects of indefinite restraining orders, prohibiting them from contacting the victim in the case. Wright cried as the judge told them: "This was a planned and unpleasant attack and while it was not planned to be this extreme, it was this extreme."