Couple Imprisons and Tortures Roomate

[bloodrayne]

Highland Torture Case, Two Jailed

A couple who tortured a man they had befriended have each been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Martin Ferris, 28, and Selina Kay, 25, battered Charles Kelman in May and June while all three were living in Alness.

They forced Mr Kelman, 32, into baths of cold water and bleach and cut and hit him, leaving him severely injured and permanently disfigured.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that he was imprisoned at times in his bedroom and the windows were covered.

Ferris and Kay threatened to harm Mr Kelman if he told anyone about the abuse.

Hospital treatment

The couple had shared a flat with him in Aberdeen before moving to Alness in January.

After they secured a tenancy in the Highland town, they invited him to move in. But Ferris attacked Mr Kelman with a hammer in February and was later given three months in jail.

Ferris and Kay felt Mr Kelman, who was described in court as "vulnerable", had "grassed them up", which led to the campaign of torture he endured at their hands.

This included:

Kay kicking him in the face in Alness High Street

A 30-minute beating by Ferris

A prolonged assault with kitchen knives

Another attack in which some of his teeth were knocked out

He was sprayed with cleaning fluid which went into his eyes and mouth.
His ordeal ended when police and passers-by saw his injuries after he was sent out to buy alcohol for them.

He was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, where he was treated for bruising, a broken leg and cuts all over his body.

'Psychological consequences'

Ferris and Kay were later arrested and at a sitting of the High Court in Aberdeen last month they pleaded guilty to the abuse.

The court heard then it appeared that the couple had been aroused by the treatment they meted out to Mr Kelman, who suffered from depression.

Sentencing them, Lord Kingarth said: "You have pleaded guilty to a sustained and relatively prolonged campaign of assault and ill-treatment with a variety of different weapons on the victim, leading to serious injury and permanent disfigurement."

The judge pointed out that the crime had "continuing serious psychological consequences" for their victim.

The court also heard that Ferris had been on a "downward spiral" of drug and alcohol abuse when the attacks were carried out.

Detective Sergeant David Mateer, of Northern Constabulary, said the extent of the torture could have resulted in a far greater tragedy.

He said: "It's fortunate that he was found when he was by patrolling officers or it could have lead to a fatality, who knows?

"It's difficult to comprehend how human beings can treat another human being in such a manner."

[horror_master]

Those people should get thier jst desserts in the persons cells.