A gang tortured a man in his Black Country home with boiling water, a leather cosh and 18-inch knife after pouncing as he put out his bin.Victim Anthony Powell was ambushed by men wearing ski masks as he stepped outside his home in St Anne’s Road, Oxley, Wolverhampton, dressed in just boxer shorts and a vest.

Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday heard how the four men tied up and gagged him, put a pillow case over his head and stabbed him in the leg with the knife. They then poured boiling water down his back.

Mr Powell was punched and kicked and beaten with a leather cosh as the gang tried to get information on a car he knew nothing about.

Mr Anthony Johnson, prosecuting, said Mr Powell was innocent with no criminal record.

He said: “The knife was held to the throat of Anthony Powell and one of the men said ‘Behave, don’t open your mouth’. They questioned him about a BMW Z4, which he knew nothing about, and a kettle was boiled. Despite his protests, they poured scalding water along his back.”

The ordeal, at 9am on June 2, lasted for 20 minutes before the gang from London fled in a van loaded with Mr Powell’s laptop, TV and mobile phone.

Neighbours took down the registration number and the thugs were stopped by police in Stafford Road. Officers found the cosh in the van.

Ringleader Aaron Foster, aged 24, of Kingsbury, was sentenced to an indeterminate sentence for the public’s protection. He must serve four years before being considered for release.

Menelik Lewis, 24, of Kensal Green, and Darren Benjamin, 30, of Harlesden, were both given seven years. Curtis Charles, 25, of Acton, got five years. All admitted aggravated burglary.

Recorder Peter Cooke said: “This man was tortured in his own home for 20 minutes. When you had finished you left him tied up and as he struggled free he left a trail of blood around the house. It was an horrific episode.”

By Elizabeth Joyce