Teenager Tortured for 8 Hours at Friend’s Flat
18 year old Summer Gregg was beaten, repeatedly slapped, spat on, hit with a metal chain, urinated on and forced to act like a dog by three of her so called ‘friends’ in an 8 hour torture session.
Miss Gregg was left with burst blood vessels in both eyes, bruising all over her body and a fractured elbow following the attack that took place at Jay Blades’ town centre flat in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
Amy Gaines, 21, James Canning, 20 and Blades, also 20, apparently carried out their attack as part of Blades’ birthday wish in the early hours of December 22nd, 2014.
Friends
Miss Gregg told of how she considered Gaines as a friend and thought that Blades was a ‘nice guy’, having met the pair a couple of years earlier through her boyfriend, Andrew Smith. However, she had only met Canning twice and felt that something was wrong as soon as she entered the flat. Miss Gregg said:
“My instinct was saying this isn’t right, but I know them so I thought it would probably be okay.”
Sheffield Crown Court heard how Miss Gregg visited Jay Blades’ flat in the hopes that she could stay the night, as she felt it was too late to go home to her parents’ house. Gaines, Canning and Blades were already at the flat when Miss Gregg arrived.
Miss Gregg had not long been in the flat when the three others began to send messages to each other, plotting the attack via their mobile phones.
The trio began telling Miss Gregg that her boyfriend was being unfaithful, which she did not believe. But they became aggressive when they could not convince her. Miss Gregg said:
“I started saying I wanted to go home and tried to leave, but Amy stopped me and blocked the door and said that because she was a mother she couldn’t let me leave at that time in the morning.
“She started smacking me around and pushing me into the wall and started saying ‘It’s me being a good mother’.
“They were kicking me, punching me, slapping me and shouting things at me. At one point Jay had one of those motorbike chains and he started hitting me with it.
“I kept thinking what have I done to make them change? What have I done to make them want to hurt me that bad?”
She added:
“Jay started doing martial arts moves and said it had been his birthday wish to try them out so got the others to film it.
“I wasn’t allowed to sit on the sofa because they said they didn’t want to catch anything from me and told me to get on all fours and act like the dog I am.
“I was so terrified, I kept thinking they’re not going to let me live. James started weeing on me, all in my hair. I begged them to stop it all but they just didn’t care.
“My eye had got all swollen up from where they had been punching me, and they started squirting lemon juice in it.”
Finish the job
Miss Gregg stated that eventually, the trio started discussing how they were going to kill her. It was at this point, around 10am that morning, that the three offenders called over a fourth friend to the flat asking her to ‘finish the job’.
However, the fourth person, who has not been named, called an ambulance instead. She then went on to instruct Miss Gregg to inform the police that she had been attacked in the street.
The other female and Blades followed Miss Gregg to hospital and it was here that a hospital worker overheard the pair planning to delete the incriminating photos and videos filmed during the attack.
After suffering numerous cuts and bruises over her body, as well as two black eyes and a fractured elbow, Miss Gregg spent a total of three days in hospital.
Sentencing
Judge Julian Goose, sentencing, described the attack on Summer Gregg as ‘prolonged and degrading’ and went on to say it was ‘an appalling episode of cruel and violet behavior to a vulnerable young woman’.
Blades, Canning and Gaines admitted to false imprisonment and wounding, after originally denying all charges. Jay Blades, of Doncaster, received a sentence of four and a half years in a Young offenders institution, whilst Canning and Gaines, also of Doncaster, were sentenced to five years in a Young Offenders Institution.
“I am just relieved they have been locked away but I’m terrified every day. What happened keeps flashing through my mind. I lose my temper and get angry very quickly now and keep having arguments with my boyfriend because of it.
“Every time I look down at my legs and see the scars from where they hit me I think of it. I have a cyst in my eye that I got in the attack which the doctors say could make me blind if it gets bigger.
“I think they should have got longer sentences because they could be out in two and a half years, which just isn’t enough for what they’ve done to me. I also think they should have gone to an adult prison because they were adults when they did it.”
Criminal Injuries – Expert Advice
We understand that if you have been subjected to an act of violence, your thoughts will turn to making a full recovery – compensation will likely be the last thing on your mind.
There is however a government scheme that provides compensation to victims or their families at this tragic time. The scheme is called CICA (The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority). Once your claim is accepted by Hampson Hughes Solicitors, we will liaise with CICA on your behalf.
If you would like expert advice on this type of case, contact Hampson Hughes Solicitors today on 0800 888 6888 or email
Source: Mail Online
