Man Jailed After Attack

6 June 2011, 15:19 | Updated: 6 June 2011, 15:29

A man has been sent to prison for torturing another man who he thought had been tampering with the drugs supplied to him for distribution.

26-year-old Joseph Ladega from Earlham Green Lane in Norwich, pleaded guilty at an earlier court appearance and was today sentenced at Norwich Crown Court to ten years for assault and five years for supplying Class A drugs.  The sentences will run concurrently.  

Late in the evening of 23 August 2010, Ladega had gone to the victim's flat in Palmer Road in Norwich, before he started to attack him, threatening him with a knife and a gun and assaulting him with boiling water and a hot iron.  The victim was left with numerous cuts and bruises to his face, head and neck and severe burns to his buttocks which required ongoing hospital treatment.

DC Jonathan Church, who led the investigation said: "This was a horrific incident which left the victim with brutal injuries and at times he was in fear for his life.  He has been left with not only mental but also physical scars.  This conviction reflects how seriously Norfolk Constabulary takes such crimes and shows that we will not tolerate nor have any hesitation in bringing offenders like this to justice."