Criminal Leeds gang jailed for 'sadistic' kidnap and blowtorch torture of man over missing drugs
Members of a drugs gang have been jailed the sickening 19-hour torture of a man with a blow torch, after accusing him of stealing cocaine.
Connor McCarthy and Joshua Spreadbury were both jailed today at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty after a trial of kidnap and GBH with intent. Kathleen McKeown was handed a suspended sentence after she was found guilty of kidnap.
They join two other men who were previously jailed in 2023 for their part in the grisly and prolonged attack.
The victim, who was employed as a driver for transporting huge quantities of drugs, was asked to attend a meeting where he was jumped by the gang and beaten and burnt for hours.
McCarthy, Spreadbury and McKeown were all charged in December 2023.
During the trial, the court heard that the 27-year-old victim had been lured to Lawn Lane, Farnley, during the evening of May 4, 2022.
The balaclava-clad gang bundled the victim into the back of a Transit van and subjected him to hours of interrogation and violence.
The victim was detained in the van for 19 hours and received significant injuries from the weapons used, including the blow torch, hammers and even a cigar cutter.
The vehicle was later located by officers in Bramley during the afternoon of 5 May, following police enquires.
The victim was rescued from the van and the driver, Carl Beaumont, 38, of South Drive, Farsley was arrested from the scene.
He and a Kieron Gavin, 33, were jailed in earlier proceedings in January 2023 after both admitted their roles as part of the kidnap gang. Gavin was jailed for 13 years, six months for kidnap and section 18 wounding while Beaumont was sentenced to eight years, six months for kidnap.
Dealing with the three other defendants today, Judge Simon Batiste called the victim’s ordeal as “horrific and sadistic”.
He said McCarthy and Spreadbury were hired to carry out the vile torture. McKeown involvement stretched to accompanying her boyfriend Kieron Gavin, but she was aware of the vicious attack being carried out. She was only 17 t the time and is now the mother of a very young baby.
He said the major drug dealers at the top of the chain remain at large, living outside the UK.
McCarthy, 33, of Cow Close Road in Lower Wortley, was jailed for 13 years .
Spreadbury, 31, of Malvern Street, Holbeck, was handed 12 years, while 21-year-old McKeown, of Robin Lane, Pudsey, was given a two-year sentence, suspended for two years.
She was also ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation days with probation.
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Inspector Dan Townend of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: “We welcome the sentencing of these three defendants today for their roles in what was a dreadful offence in which a victim was tortured with weapons and badly injured.
“We know he was lured to Lawn Lane and bundled into a van before being subjected to repeated assaults in a 19 hour ordeal. It is difficult to imagine what thoughts must have passed through the victim’s head during this ordeal.
“These five individuals have been jailed following a complex investigation carried out with partners within Protective Services Crime and across West Yorkshire Police.
“We hope these convictions will being some comfort to the victim and demonstrate to those engaged in such criminality that all necessary specialist resources will be used to bring you to justice.”