Woman begged for her life as ‘mates’ tied her up for over six hours of torture

Jeanette Martin and Shevonne Wright lured a woman to a Harehills drug den, tied her up with electric cables and subjected her to a horrific six-hour ordeal before stealing her bank card and cash

View 3 Images

An addict lured a woman to a drug den before restraining her with electrical cables and subjecting her to torture for over six hours.

Jeanette Martin, 33, along with fellow addict Shevonne Wright, 42, assaulted the woman at the premises used by drug users near Bayswater Road in Harehills on November 16 last year. Prosecutor Shannon Woodley informed the court the victim had been acquainted with both defendants, but had relocated from the area when she was enticed to the drug den.

She explained she had been requested by Martin to assist with decorating a property in Bayswater Grove and the following day caught a bus to meet her, reports Leeds Live.

Ms Woodley told the court: “Jeanette Martin appeared to come from a different street and took her into a property where the door was open. It appeared to be vacant with rubbish every where.

“She was taken upstairs to an attic room where there was a makeshift mattress and she was told to sit down. Shevonne Wright came in and began to attack her and Jeanette Martin joined in.”

The duo launched a vicious assault on the woman before Martin instructed Wright to “get her legs” and they bound her using electrical cables. The court heard Wright then positioned herself on the woman’s chest and struck her repeatedly.

Ms Woodley said: “Jeanette Martin tied the cable around her neck, strangling her until she lost consciousness. The beating continued and Jeanette Martin threatened to kill her and she begged for her life and to see her children. They continued to punch her when she was put onto her back.”

The pair then seized £70 in cash from the woman, along with her bank card and mobile phone. She was forced to provide them with her code and PIN number, which she complied with.

Martin was then instructed to take the bank card to a cash machine and withdraw money. The court was told she extracted £160 from the woman’s account while Wright, of Raincliffe Road, Leeds, remained with her and continued to detain her against her will.

The woman described observing Wright as she made telephone calls nearby, telling those on the other end: “I have got this b**** tied up” and “She had to deal with her as she had ruined her day.”

She said Wright persisted with the assault, striking her over the head with the phone and stamping on her back. Ms Woodley said: “She said she was going to leave her tied up with socks in her mouth so no one could hear her screaming. She was kept there for hours in a cycle of beatings.”

The court was told Wright alerted a man who was present, and he eventually freed the woman and drove her home, where she contacted police.

Wright and Martin were detained and responded “no comment” during questioning but subsequently admitted guilt to robbery, following the scheduling of a trial.

It was revealed DNA evidence placed them and the victim at the location, and their mobile phones contained messages discussing their scheme and the woman’s whereabouts.

In a victim impact statement, the woman revealed: “I met Shevonne Wright in October 2024 and became friends. She started to come to mine to visit and we used to talk about our past experiences and life. We got on well but she used to get angry a lot for no apparent reason.

“Her dad went to prison and she became even more angry… On the day of the assault I went to help and she was there. I’d not seen her since August – I was in a safe place. Jeanette Martin told me she wasn’t speaking to her but instead lied and set me up for the most harrowing six-and-a-half hours of my life.

“I tried to defend myself but Jeanette Martin joined in. I was begging her to stop. I couldn’t breathe and tried telling her but she said she didn’t care and would kill me. I was so terrified I was going to die I wet myself and they laughed and called me a dirty b****. They beat me for hours. I was sore for weeks and struggled to eat.

“Jeanette Martin went and left me at the house and I thought I would die there. It was the worst experience of my life and I will never get over what happened to me.”

Since the robbery, the woman revealed she has been reliving the traumatic event and told the court in her statement: “I have totally isolated myself because I don’t trust anyone. I don’t have any friends. I have thought about [taking my life] as I’m terrified when they are released they will come and find me and seek revenge on me for going to the police.

“I never thought I’d be terrified to leave my home. That’s what my life is like.”

She disclosed that she suffers from nightmares and her doctor suspects she has complex post-traumatic stress disorder. She said: “I trusted them at one point and thought they were my friends. I never did anything to them and wanted to help them in any way I could and I will never trust anyone because of that.”

The court learned that Wright had 37 previous offences on her record for crimes, some of which were violent, while Martin had 29 offences on hers, mostly for dishonesty and drug possession. At the time of the robbery, she was under a suspended sentence.

Wright beamed as she displayed certificates she had earned while on remand as her barrister Mark Foley addressed the court: “She has a sad and criminal history. She has, it is evident from that and the [pre-sentence] report, a significant addiction to drugs. Her record doesn’t show a tendency to violence, certainly not to the gravity shown in this case.

“In the pre-sentence report it is reflected she had been close to the complainant. Both clung to each other as drug users and perhaps hostilities arose. She says there is another side to the story. It is evident from the report that she regrets now it happened and accepts and recognises the impact that it has had.”

Mr Foley revealed Wright had enjoyed a “spell of six years” without offending and she carried a robbery conviction from when she was just 13. He explained she was “anxious to explain” about her family, including her deceased father and her mother.

The court was told Wright’s sister looks after her four year old son and their mother. The court was informed: “She’s had a traumatic few months while in custody.”

Speaking for Martin, Mike Walsh confirmed a pre-sentence report had been compiled. He stated: “She takes on board the profound effect this must have had on the victim. She expressed to me that the seven months she has spent in custody has given her time to reflect on her own situation, but also if she had been the victim. Everything about it being planned must be right but it wasn’t necessarily planned to turn out like this.

“The phrase she used to me was that it got out of hand. She will say the plan wasn’t for it to be as serious as it was. It is right she was the subject of a 20-week suspended sentence imposed two months before this. There had been some compliance.

“She is on methadone and is now reduced to 25ml. She has never been remanded in custody and tells me her time away from normal life has allowed her to move away from things and the situation she was in in her life.”

His Honour Judge Clark sentenced both Wright and Martin to six years and two months imprisonment and imposed indefinite restraining orders upon them, preventing any contact with the victim in the case.

Wright wept as the judge declared: “This was a planned and unpleasant attack and while it was not planned to be this extreme, it was this extreme.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.