Eastwood drug thug scalded terrified victim with boiling water while torturing him for £10,000
An Eastwood thug who scalded his terrified victim with boiling water and tortured him while demanding £10,000 had been on a 12-hour drug bender, a court heard.
Blu Wright held a knife close to the man's eye after striking him in the face with a vase, a speaker and a wooden pole which broke while his accomplice Tegan Hawley punched him with her fists and told him to enter his passcode to transfer the cash on his banking app.
The man was terrified and kept mis-typing and each time he failed, one of them would hit him, said Dawn Pritchard, prosecuting.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the pair went to an address on South Street, in Eastwood, to take drugs on June 2, last year.
When Wright, aged 30, spotted their victim's bank balance while transferring funds to Hawley for drugs, he filled a kettle with water at 6am the next day.
Although most of the water missed him he still sustained a serious burn on his arm. He held the knife with sufficient pressure to nick the skin near his victim’s eye.
Ms Pritchard said that after Wright punched the man in the face Hawley, aged 37, joined in.
When he finally accessed the app Hawley and Wright argued as Wright mistakenly believed she had managed to transfer the money.
Wright threatened to kill his children if he reported the attack to police and they took his mobile phone when they left. Hawley came back later to apologise.
Their victim was treated for a fractured eye socket and nose as well as multiple areas of bruising and swelling.
When Hawley was arrested later the same day she claimed to have been injured while trying to defend their victim.
Nottingham Crown Court heard Wright also punched a shopkeeper twice in the face when he tried to detain two female shoplifters after they stole meat from the Morrisons in Eastwood, on June 2.
Wright also stole a £3,000 e-bike in Eastwood, on March 20, and £300 of Berghaus clothes from Go Outdoors in Nottingham, on May 26.
He later bragged about being a professional bike thief to police, warned his victims to "lock it or lose it," and claimed “shoplifting paid for his hotels”.
He was on bail for a violent affray in Ashbourne at the time and Hawley was on a community order for battery.
William Bennett, mitigating, conceded Wright wasn’t helped by his criminal record but said none of the injuries were permanent.
He was the victim of serious domestic violence as a child and “developed a very hard shell very quickly.”
Wright turned to drink and drugs after a relationship ended but knows he must break his cycle of violent offending.
Dominic Shelley said Hawley, who has “low cognitive ability,” has been “stuck in a trough of alcohol and drugs all her adult life.”
He said she was remorseful and has made good use of the nine months she has spent in custody by detoxing from drugs.
Wright, aged 30, of Comet Road, Eastwood, and Hawley, aged 37, of Cromford Road, Langley Mill, both admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Wright also admitted the thefts and common assault. He admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and affray in a separate incident which took place in Ashbourne in 2022.
On Thursday, Judge Philip Head classified Wright as dangerous and sentenced him to a total of eight years and nine months in prison. Hawley received four and a half years.