A pair of “barbaric” thugs have each been handed three life sentences for tying up and torturing a married couple as well as nearly killing a man in a drive-by shooting.
Daniel Wallace, 33, of St Mary’s, Barking, and Kacey Adams, 34, of Covert Road, Hainault, smashed their way into the bungalow of 66-year-old John Buswell as he watched TV and his wife Janis, 64, knitted clothes for her expected great-grandchild.
The intruders used cable ties to tie up the couple and subjected them to almost two hours of torture to demand the codes to their safes, said prosecutor Tracy Ayling QC.
The court heard the two defendants poured two kettles of boiling water over Mrs Buswell and threatened to sever her fingers and gouge one of her eyes out.
They also poured a kettle of boiling water over Mr Buswell, punched him repeatedly in the face and threatened to cut his ears off with a knife.
The pair made off from the home in Halstead, Kent, in April 2016, with £50,000, and were caught returning from Dubai after a spending spree.
Judge Charles Gratwicke, sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court today, described both men as “highly dangerous, ruthless professional criminals prepared to use serious violence” to further their aims.
He said they had used “gratuitous violence for no reason at all”.
Both men admitted aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent at an earlier hearing at Maidstone Crown Court.
They were also sentenced for a tit-for-tat drive-by shooting after they were found guilty of conspiracy to murder following an earlier trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Adams blasted the victim with a shotgun while he waited at a junction in Stamford-Le-Hope, Essex, at around 7pm on May 10 2016.
The 54-year-old survived the single shotgun blast but was left with serious injuries to his face and a lung, and lost sight in one eye.
The court heard the attack was ordered by Edward Dooley, 25, of St Edwards Way, Romford, after he was severely injured by a member of the victim’s family in an assault in November 2015.
Dooley instructed Adams to carry out the shooting in retribution, and Adams brought Wallace in to assist him.
Dooley was jailed for 16 years, which he must serve half of before he is considered for release on licence.
Adams and Wallace were both given three life sentences for conspiracy to murder, aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
They must serve 12-and-a-half years in prison before being considered for release.
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