JAILED: Torture gang who poured boiling water over man in bid to find £10k

Nigerian-born Uche Ogwuegbu was bound, gagged and repeatedly doused with boiling water while held in his 14th-floor flat for almost two hours by former lover Chito Adichie and her henchmen Isaiah Ambersley and Michael Spence, a judge heard.

She 'set up' him up after a letter referring to a £10,000 bank loan was inadvertently sent to his former address where she remained after they parted, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

"She knew he had money and was responsible for the recruitment of the two men," revealed Mr David Swinnerton, prosecuting.

The victim did not have permission to stay in this country but had false papers and had been giving Adichie £100-a-month to 'make arrangements' for him to remain here, it was said.

He stopped making the payments just weeks before she struck on November 9, 2014, less than a month after he took out the bank loan.

Adichie arrived unexpectedly at his flat in Camberley House, Beacon View Road, West Bromwich, and was allowed inside from where the 37-year-old sent text messages to her two accomplices.

They claimed to be police officers but suspicious Mr Ogwuegbu refused to believe them and Adichie had to open the front door to let them in.

The victim was pushed to the floor, punched and throttled by 44-year-old Ambersley and Spence, 27, who demanded 'where's the money?' explained the prosecutor.

When they bound him hand and foot with telephone cable a flailing arm gave Spence a nose bleed, leaving traces at the scene that were forensically matched with his DNA.

Mr Ogwuegbu had a knife held to his throat and was warned he would be killed if he made a sound before being gagged with duck tape.

This and a glass were later found to have the fingerprints of Ambersley on them.

Three kettles of boiling water were poured over the feet and legs of the prisoner before he gave them the log in details for his computer.

He then lied that he expected a further £12,000 at the end of the month in a successful bid to get rid of them.

The trio left carrying a holdall and bin bag after warning his family would be killed in Africa if police were alerted but it remains unclear if their haul included the money.

Mr Ogwuegbu, who suffered bad burns, cuts and bruises, took an hour to free himself before raising the alarm.

He insisted his attackers took the cash from its hiding place behind a bed head but the jury - who convicted the defendants of robbery, false imprisonment and causing grievous bodily harm - remained unconvinced.

Adichie and Ambersley from Churchill Walk and Shrubbery Walk, both Tipton, were each jailed for 13 years while Spence of St Martins Road, Sutton Coldfield got 12 years.

Judge Nicholas Webb told them: "This was a dreadful and frightening incident during which a man was tortured and robbed in his own home."