Group tortured one man and hit another with an iron

A group who kidnapped and tortured one man and attacked another with an iron displayed a "shocking level of violence", police said.

The first victim was taken to a house in the Newsome area of Huddersfield on 10 July and was attacked with weapons until he escaped and sought help on 16 July 2024.

Separately, a man was found with serious head injuries in Huddersfield the following month after he managed to escape through a flat window, with the second victim attacked by members of the same group.

Natalie Dennison, 45, Makyle Francois, 24, Joshua Bhatti, 31, Curtis Hainds,19, and Aiden Bridges, 27, were all jailed at Leeds Crown Court on Monday.

West Yorkshire Police said an investigation started after the first man escaped from the property and helped to identify those involved in his abuse.

Officers were contacted in August about the second victim, aged in his 20s, and discovered he had been assaulted by a group of men and a woman identified as Dennison.

Dennison was arrested the same evening, police said, with the others arrested soon after.

The sentences received by the group:

• Dennison, of no fixed address, was jailed for 21 years with a five-year extended licence after admitting section 18 assault, two charges of sexual assault and kidnap against a man in July. She was also jailed for section 18 assault connected to the other man in August
• Francois, of Huntingdon Avenue, Huddersfield, was sentenced to 18 years in prison with four years extended licence for section 18 assault and kidnap against the first victim and section 18 assault on the second man
• Bhatti, of Bradford Road, Huddersfield, was sentenced to 18 years in prison with four years on licence for section 18 assault and false imprisonment of the first man and section 18 assault on the second
• Curtis Hainds, of Dewhurst Road, Huddersfield, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for the section 18 assault of the second man
• Aiden Bridges, of Orchard Street, Huddersfield was jailed for four years and eight months for section 18 assault on the second man

Det Con Andy Buckingham, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "We welcome the sentencing of these persons in what were dreadful offences involving shocking levels of violence.

"Both victims were seriously assaulted with weapons, including an iron in the August attack, and very much feared they could even be killed had they not escaped when they did."

He added: "They were also both left with deep trauma as a result of these attacks, with the second victim requiring long-lasting hospital treatment for some very serious head injuries."

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