A man who kept another man prisoner in his room in Wrexham, burned him with a lighter and threatened to torture him with pliers has been jailed for three years and nine months.
Warren Davies, 30, of Watery Road, Wrexham, broke eleven of Jason Leeder’s ribs after wrongly accusing him of messaging Davies’ partner.
Davies appeared by video link from prison and pleaded guilty to:
- Grievous bodily harm
- False imprisonment
Sentencing
Recorder John Philpotts told Davies: “You accused Mr Leeder of being in contact with his girlfriend and despite his denials, you attacked him,” which led to what the Recorder called “significant injury”.
He went on: “You threatened to torture him and kept him a prisoner in his own flat for a period, before he was able to escape.”
Davies was also given a restraining order, in place until further order, that bans him from approaching or contacting Mr Leeder. He must pay a victim surcharge too.
A borrowed phone
The court heard Mr Leeder was in his room in shared accommodation on Watery Road on February 25, 2026. Davies had come to the building to visit his mother, who lived there.
Davies had no mobile phone of his own. At around 1am he knocked on Mr Leeder’s door, went in and used Mr Leeder’s phone to log in to his own Facebook Messenger account.
About half an hour later he became angry and accused Mr Leeder of sending messages to his partner, “something which he had not done”, said prosecutor David Mainstone.
Mr Leeder took his phone back and messaged Davies’ partner himself to say he wasn’t the one who had been using it. Davies then locked the door so he couldn’t leave.
The attack
Davies pushed a pair of boxer shorts into Mr Leeder’s mouth and tried to gag him further with a belt. When Mr Leeder fought back, Davies burned his arm with a lighter.
As Mr Leeder tried to get out, Davies punched him in the ribs with both fists. Mr Leeder fell to the floor, and Davies kept kicking and kneeing him even though he asked him to stop.
“He threatened to torture him with pliers,” said Mr Mainstone. “He was terrified at this point the defendant was going to kill him.”
Mr Leeder got down the stairs, but Davies followed him, pushed him down the last few steps and forced him into his mother’s room.
Mr Leeder finally got away and ran to Wrexham Maelor Hospital. He had eleven broken ribs, a split lip and a burn to his right arm.
Impact on the victim
In his victim statement, Mr Leeder said he never expected to be attacked in his own home. He said he thought he would be “tortured for hours” and then killed, and that he no longer felt safe.
He said he was still in pain and struggling to breathe, and that he felt anxious and scared and was having trouble sleeping.
Previous convictions and defence
Davies has 18 previous convictions for 48 offences, including common assault, actual bodily harm and assaulting a PC.
Amy Edwards, defending, said her client had indicated a guilty plea early on and was sorry for what he’d done. She told the court he had mental health problems and substance misuse issues after a traumatic upbringing, and had been trying to get rehabilitation help while on remand.
