A drugs gang victim was hit over the head with a hammer, forced to strip naked before his assailants threw boiling water mixed with sugar over him. But the attack didn’t end there – one of the attackers hit the victim in the leg with a metal pole before they took him to another address in Peterborough where the torture continued for another two days.
In another incident, told to a court, a gang member used a blowtorch to burn a man’s hands, arms and back. The gang responsible – who kidnapped, tortured, and assaulted vulnerable drug users – have been jailed for a total of more than 22 years.
Detective Constable Gordon Logan, who investigated, said: “These were a string of horrendous assaults, all connected to drugs. “The horrific torture one victim suffered was filmed by the group and shared amongst some of them, clearly having absolutely no remorse for their actions.
“I would like to thank all those who have come forward in speaking out about this gang. I know how frightened some people have been and I hope the sentencings come as a warning to others that we take incidents of this nature extremely seriously – there is no place for this in our community.”
The story that unfolded in court began on 27 November last year, brothers Billy and Cameron Black, along with associates Deiter Sayers and Dillon Farrar, entered a flat in Orton Goldhay allegedly looking for someone over a drugs debt and dealing. When asking one of the occupants where he was, and being told he didn’t know, Billy launched an attack on him, stabbing the man in the chest with a bread knife.
Some weeks later, on 2 January, the brothers came across their next victim in the street and, under the order of Sayers, forced him back to a house in Orton Goldhay. At the house, Sayers hit the victim over the head with a hammer and forced him to strip naked before throwing boiling water mixed with sugar over him.
Sayers repeatedly hit him in the legs with a metal pole before the trio moved him between other addresses across Peterborough where the torture continued for another two days. On 3 January, the victim was taken to another house in Orton Goldhay, where the three men met with the brothers’ dad – William Black – and an associate, Lewis King.
William and King left the address to head to the next target, also in Orton Goldhay, believed to have been a fallout over the victim no longer wanting to allow the group the use of his home to sell drugs. The pair entered the man’s home and proceeded to attack him with baseball bats and metal poles, as well as repeatedly kicking him until he faked unconsciousness to stop the attack.
During the three-day kidnap and assault spree, the four youngest men also visited another man in Stanground where Farrar used a blowtorch to burn the man’s hands, arms and back. Sayers, 18, of The Dell, Woodston, and Billy Black, 21, of no fixed address, both admitted charges of assault causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent and false imprisonment.
Cameron Black, 20, of no fixed address, admitted a charge of false imprisonment. Farrar, 19, of Stagshaw Drive, Fletton, admitted charges of possession with intent to supply cannabis and assault causing actual bodily harm (ABH).
All four appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on Monday where they were sentenced:
- Sayers was jailed for six years and eight months and will spend a further two years on licence
- Billy Black was jailed for six years and six months and will spend a further two years on licence
- Cameron Black was jailed for four years and eight months
- Farrar was jailed for 57 weeks
William Black, 44, of Winyates, Orton Goldhay, and King, 42, of Hinchcliffe, also Orton Goldhay, were both initially charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, however they both pleaded guilty to a lesser offence of actual bodily harm (ABH) which was accepted in court.
They appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on 1 August where William was sentenced to 93 weeks in prison, while King was jailed for 88 weeks. William was also fined £60 for being found in possession of cannabis.
