Warren Davies has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for a brutal attack that left a man with 11 broken ribs, a split lip and a burn injury. The assault took place inside the victim's own room in shared accommodation on Watery Road in Wrexham, North Wales, following a dispute over a text message.
The victim, Jason Leeder, was kept prisoner in his room, gagged with boxer shorts and a belt, punched repeatedly and had his arm burned with a lighter. The court heard that Davies launched the attack on February 25 this year.
Attack over a text message
Mr Leeder was in his room when Davies arrived at the address to visit his mother, who lived there. At around 1am, Davies knocked on the door and went inside to use Mr Leeder's mobile phone, as he did not 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.
Violence and threats
Davies forced a pair of boxer shorts into Mr Leeder's mouth and tried to gag him with a belt. When the victim resisted, 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 eventually ran down the stairs but was followed by the attacker, who pushed him down the last few steps and forced him into his mother's room.
Escape and sentencing
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 that he believed he was going to be killed and no longer felt safe, and that he was still in pain, struggling to breathe and sleep, and was anxious and scared.
Davies, 30, of Watery Road, Wrexham, appeared in court via video link from prison and admitted grievous bodily harm and false imprisonment. The court heard he 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 a traumatic upbringing, with substance misuse issues, and had been trying to access rehabilitation help while on remand.
Sentencing Davies, 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." The judge also granted a restraining order preventing Davies from approaching or contacting Mr Leeder until further order and ordered Davies to pay a victim surcharge.
