Teen forced to drink urine and act like a dog by ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in 6-hour torture session
A court recently heard how a teenager, her boyfriend, and another friend subjected her ex-boyfriend to a horrific six-hour ordeal where he was abused, stabbed, made to drink urine, and behave like a dog.
The 18-year-old Kathleen Phelan, her new boyfriend, 20-year-old George Russell-Brookes, and their friend 19-year-old Christopher Emery, all hailing from Coventry, pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment in connection to the incident at the Warwick Crown Court recently, according to Coventry Live.
Detailing the torture to the court, prosecutor James Dunstan said the victim suffered from Crohn's disease and that he had been in a relationship with Phelan before she started dating Russell-Brookes.
On August 17 last year, the victim had received a package meant for Phelan and went by to her residence to give it to her, only for Russell-Brookes to answer the door, forcefully pull him inside, and lock the door behind him.
While Phelan initially shouted at her 20-year-old boyfriend to stop, her demeanor soon changed and she joined in on the assault, pushing her ex's head against the wall with such force that the plaster cracked.
Dunstan told the court that the victim was forced to perform impressions of TV personalities and was slapped and kicked if it was deemed to not be good enough. It was at this point that Russell-Brookes video-called Emery and told him that he was "on top of the world with this little rat I've got here", quoted Dunstan.
While still on the call, the victim was made to snort lines of salt. When his nose ran, he was given tissues to wipe, which he was then forced to eat, causing him to vomit, much to the delight of all three tormentors. Phelan proceeded to spray him with a bleach-based cleaner and chillingly said, "We don’t want him dead yet".
While she and Russell-Brookes continued torturing the victim, Emery arrived with a four-meter length of rope that the trio used to tie his legs together. They then tied it around his neck as well and led him around while making him "act like a dog".
But they were still not done humiliating the victim. He was also ordered to drink from a dog bowl in which they had mixed water, urine, beer and salt, threatening to keep him for another 24 hours if he didn't do as directed.
Dunstan said they finally let him go after warning him to not tell anyone, but another friend who came to know of the victim's plight ensured word got around to his parents and the police. All three were arrested at Phelan's apartment.
At the sentencing hearing, even the defendants' lawyers conceded that it was "a sickening incident" and that their behavior was "utterly wicked". Judge Andrew Lockhart QC took a similar line. "There was torture and humiliation," he said. "Any human being subjected by a fellow human being to this type of conduct will be seriously affected by it."
"In my judgment, this is a very grave offense of false imprisonment, and in all your cases only a significant sentence of custody can be considered."
Russell-Brookes was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, with Emery receiving a prison term of four years and nine months. Phelan was given a reduced sentence of three years detention as she was 17 at the time she entered the plea.