Woman jailed after man set on fire

A woman was jailed indefinitely today for abusing a vulnerable man who was set on fire and made to jump into a canal.

Amanda Ford, 25, was said to have found the violence and sexual abuse of the victim "entertaining".

Old Bailey Judge Charles Wide said the man, who was in his 20s, had been made to do housework and then beaten and sexually humiliated.

He said: "It paints a picture of months of misery. He was treated as a skivvy and made to do housework.

"When it was not good enough, he was violently assaulted by you."

Ford had enlisted others in a shared house in Shaftesbury Avenue, Belgrave, Leicester, to carry out some of the abuse.

She had also made everyone give her their benefit money. "Your domination of the house was extraordinary," said the judge.

Ford and Mark Martin, 24, both of no fixed address, were given indeterminate sentences for public protection for two sexual assaults, with concurrent sentences for the other assaults.

Ford was told she must serve a minimum term of five years and Martin of four years.

They had been convicted at Northampton Crown Court in their absence after going on the run.

Two others convicted of assault were given community orders in September.

The catalogue of "sadistic and vicious" assaults included being kicked in the testicles so hard the victim's feet left the floor; being scrubbed; being kicked downstairs; being made to jump into a canal; being set on fire after being doused with aftershave.

PA