03 May 2016

Court moves to sentence in torture case

Tom Dunn has prosecuted the sentence of Aaron Rickets and Alando McNeish on a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The prosecution’s case was that the defendants walked into their victim’s house uninvited and accused him of stealing from them. They ordered him to strip naked and then boiled a kettle and poured scalding water all over his body. The kettle was re-boiled at least once, as the attackers felt the water was not hot enough. After prolonged scalding with boiling water, Mr McNeish then heated a kitchen ladle on the gas hob and used it to inflict further burns. He then forced the victim to place his arm on the floor and clench his fingers into a fist so that he could try and break his fingers by stamping on them.

The victim, Kevin Ward, managed to escape by running naked into a neighbours house where he was observed to be suffering from convulsions and shock. He was later treated at the Burns Unit of East Grinstead Hospital for  major second degree burns – injuries which have left him permanently disfigured.

In his sentencing remarks HHJ Smith observed that the video footage of Mr Ward, taken in the immediate build up to his ordeal, showed him as having been rendered “almost incoherent with fear” and further that the case “lived in the memory as a deliberate and calculated piece of cruelty and torture”

Aaron Rickets was jailed for a period of 7 years 10 months on his plea. Alando McNeish, who contested the matter but was convicted by a Jury, received a sentence of 10 years 6 months.

Please use the links below for media coverage of the case:-

The Mirror

The Sun

Kent Online

Maidstone and Medway News