Man burnt while being kept as prisoner in own home and suffered 11 broken ribs

Man burnt while being kept as prisoner in own home and suffered 11 broken ribs Warren Davies launched a savage attack on Jason Leeder inside his own room, imprisoning him and breaking 11 of his ribs following a dispute A man was kept prisoner in his own room, gagged, punched and had his arm burned with a lighter following a dispute that started over a text message. The victim, Jason Leeder, had 11 of his ribs broken in the ordeal, which took place inside the room he occupied in shared accommodation in Wrexham, North Wales. A court heard that Warren Davies launched the savage attack on Mr Leeder on February 25 this year. Mr Leeder was in his room inside a dwelling on Watery Road when Davies arrived at the address to visit his mother who lived there. At around 1am, Davies knocked on the door of Mr Leeder and went inside to use the man's mobile phone as he didn't have one. Davies logged into his Facebook Messenger account and about 30 minutes later became angry, accusing Mr Leeder of messaging his partner. David Mainstone, prosecuting, said this was "something which he [Mr Leeder] had not done". Mr Leeder retrieved his phone and messaged Davies' partner to say he was not the one using the device but Davies then locked the door and prevented his victim from leaving, North Wales Live reports. Davies forced a pair of boxer shorts into Mr Leeder's mouth and tried to gag him with a belt. The victim resisted and Davies used a lighter to burn his arm and punched him to the ribs with both fists as Mr Leeder tried to escape. He fell to the floor and Davies continued to kick and knee him. "He threatened to torture him with pliers," said Mr Mainstone. "He was terrified at this point the defendant was going to kill him." Mr Leeder ran down the stairs eventually but was followed by the attacker, who pushed him down the last few steps and forced him into his mother's room. Mr Leeder managed to escape and ran to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, where he was found to have 11 broken ribs, a split lip and a burn injury to his right arm. In a victim statement, Mr Leeder said he did not expect to be assaulted in his own home and thought he was going to be "tortured for hours". He added he believed he was going to be killed and no longer felt safe. He was still in pain, struggling to breathe and sleep, and was anxious and scared. The defendant, 30 and of Watery Road, Wrexham, appeared in court via video link from prison and admitted grievous bodily harm and false imprisonment. The court heard Davies had 18 previous convictions for 48 offences, including common assault, actual bodily harm and assaulting a police officer. Amy Edwards, defending, said Davies indicated an early guilty plea, had mental health problems and had a traumatic upbringing, with substance misuse issues. He has been trying to access rehabilitation help while on remand and was remorseful. Sentencing Davies to three years and nine months in prison, Recorder John Philpotts said: "You threatened to torture him and kept him a prisoner in his own flat for a period, before he was able to escape." Judge Philpotts also granted a restraining order preventing the defendant from approaching or contacting Mr Leeder until further order and ordered Davies to pay a victim surcharge.