A JUDGE has jailed a Kendal woman who “encouraged” two men involved in the "sadistic" torture of a man who was stripped naked, tied up in a bath and attacked – including with a blow torch  

The victim's appalling ordeal was outlined at Carlisle Crown Court as a judge passed sentence on 24-year-old Rhiannon Stewart. Along with three other defendants, she had pleaded guilty to false imprisonment. 

She had also admitted a police assault and two offences of smuggling illegal items into a young offenders’ institution, including miniature phones and the drugs cannabis and spice. 

Prosecutor David Traynor gave the court a detailed account of the false imprisonment. The alarm was raised at around 3pm on the afternoon of June 2, 2021, when the victim was found collapsed and badly injured in Sandes Avenue, Kendal, said the prosecutor.  

“Battered and bruised”, the man, in his 30s, was semi-conscious, and so badly injured that he was airlifted to Royal Preston Hospital. As well as having two black eyes and extensive swelling, he had puncture wounds to his body and a circular burn, which police later confirmed was caused by a blow torch. 

He was also repeatedly slapped and punched. 

“He recalls numerous punches and being struck with a metal bar,” said Mr Traynor. “And being slashed with a Stanley knife to his back, his thighs and [his private parts]; and the blow torch [being used] on his back and having his hair burned off.”

It later emerged that a video of the man’s ordeal was circulated via the Snapchat social media platform.

On the video by his attackers - and Stewart - could be heard making comments. They were accusing the victim of wrongdoing for which there was no evidence, the court heard.  When found, the man still had tape around his neck, suggesting it was used to hold a hood of some kind over his head. 

It showed him lying naked in a bath, his hands bound and his feet manacled to the taps to stop him escaping. The victim's ordeal went on for at least five hours.

In a victim impact statement, the man later said that he was still in pain and still suffering the ongoing psychological effects of what was done to him. The court was also told about the other offences admitted by Stewart. 

Stewart committed the offence in  November in November while visiting her partner at the Lancaster Farms Young Offenders’ Institution. As she sat at a table talking to her partner, she reached across the table to hug him, and CCTV images showed that this was when the exchange was done. 

The prisoner was found to have taken cannabis from Stewart – a total of 24.9g. A later search of Stewart showed she was carrying other prohibited items in her bra – four miniature phones and charger cables. 

She also had with her a bag in which was found 54.2g of spice. The police assault happened on Boxing Day, 2021, when kicked an officer who visited her home in Kendal. The value of drugs the defendant brought to the prison was estimated to be around £6,500, the court heard. 

Claire Brocklebank, defending, accepted that Stewart had been “a party” to the false imprisonment offence, both promoting and encouraging what was done. But she did not take part in any physical violence. 

Of the offence involving the drugs, the court heard that her guilty plea was entered on the basis that both she and her partner had been threatened with physical violence.  She was given a parcel, and while she knew it contained drugs she did not know what kind of drugs. 

“She felt pressurised, coerced, and fearful,” said Miss Brocklebank. The barrister said the defendant, who was remorseful, had mental health issues - including agoraphobia - and she was prone to being impulsive. She seemed to have had a pattern of unstable relationships, and this seemed to be her downfall. 

Of the false imprisonment offence, the barrister added: “She describes herself as disgusted.” 

Judge Nicholas Barker told the defendant, who is due to give birth to her first child in November: “Once [The victim] was restrained he became vulnerable. He was subjected to what can only be described as a prolonged, humiliating, sadistic behaviour by those men. 

"Elements of his degrading and sadistic behaviour were filmed and there was distribution.

“It is clear who was doing what… but you [the defendant] were a party to it, promoting it and encouraging it.” The judge said the man’s treatment had verged on torture, though that was the word used by Mr Traynor as he described the victim’s mistreatment that day. 

The victim was left with post-traumatic stress disorder. At the time, she was out of control and taking drugs and drinking alcohol and prone to being in abusive relationships and easily led, said the judge. 

The judge jailed Stewart, of Lound Road, Kendal, for 52 months. Judge Barker also imposed a restraining order banning any contact with the victim of the false imprisonment. 

At an earlier hearing, the three other defendants involved in the false imprisonment were each given lengthy jail terms. They were Dominic Hodgson, 18, of Jutland Avenue, Flookburgh, and Kendal brothers Christopher Calvert, 44, of Garth Bank; and 36-year-old John Calvert, of Stricklandgate. 

John Calvert was jailed for for six years four months, Christopher Calvert for five years 11 months and Hodgson was given 45 months’ detention.