Sheffield family jailed for keeping 'slave' in garage as 'human punchbag'

34-year-old Craig Kinsella suffered from a broken right arm, a fractured rib, and extreme bruising after a family imprisoned him.

17:06 08 January 2014

Three members of a family in Sheffield have been jailed for keeping a “slave” in a garage and treating him like a ‘punch bag’.

34-year-old Craig Kinsella, a vulnerable man with learning disabilities, was subjected to daily beatings.

Kinsella suffered a broken right arm, a fractured rib, extreme bruising to his back and around his kidney, a fractured chin and cuts, as well as lumps and bruises on his head and legs when police found him.

44-year-old ice cream man David Rook was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and was ordered to pay his victim £15,000 after he admitted to falsely imprisoning and assaulting Kinsella.

Meanwhile, his wife, 40-year-old Donna was jailed for four months for battery and their son, 19-year-old Jamie, was jailed for four-and-a-half years for five counts of actual bodily harm and affray.

At the trial, Judge Kelson said that the family members treated Kinsella like a punch bag.

"He was just your punchbag, all three of you. If you were in a bad mood you would just go and kick and punch Craig Kinsella," said Judge Kelson.

"It is staggering that this is happening in our society, absolutely staggering. It is almost unbelievable."