General Chat

telly Addict, if you read my post you wills ee that he was a bit of an itinerant, they were used to not seeing him for days/weeks on end. This is a piece from the local paper. the real motive for their brutality towards the handyman may never be known. 'Amanda Baggus said he caused damage to a three wheeler and he was working it off as a debt,' said DCI Brookes. 'She was upset with him because in June 2006 he was taken away in an ambulance with a minor head injury. 'She was arrested but he did not want to make a complaint. 'He assumed he owed her money.' DI Porter believed Kevin was tortured for no other reason than the fact that they could get away with it - intoxicated by the power they had over the victim. 'Kevin was a very vulnerable person and they did it because they could,' said DI Porter. 'We have not unearthed any other explanation for it. 'Kevin was a local character in the Forest, we are pretty sure they were acquaintances for some time.' Shocked neighbours told The Citizen they believed something was amiss but they never imagined the gruesome horror of what was happening within yards of their homes. Badgers Way resident Gemma Hale heard screaming coming from number 14 in September before she went on holiday. When she returned, Baggus and Lehane were being led away from their house in handcuffs, on a murder charge. 'I hadn't spoken to them in years and when I heard screaming coming from there late at night I had to find David Lehane's brother Pete to say maybe he should check out what was going on as it sounded like a fight,' she said. 'Apparently they fought quite a lot. I reckon it's disgusting what they did to that poor bloke - you wouldn't treat a dog like that.' Even Lehane, Baggus and Andrews' relatives have called for life sentences. 'They shouldn't have done what they did,' said one. 'Whether he died from an epileptic fit or as a result of their actions, what they did was wrong, and they must have realised that.' Another said: 'Either way - David and Amanda won't be welcome back in the Forest, especially if they are released in five years.' A relative of Baggus, who used to live next door to the couple, said she held a strong influence over Lehane. 'If he didn't do what she said she would really let rip,' said the relative. 'If he was late back from the pub or didn't want to go and fetch her cigarettes or something small like that it would be World War III. 'He has an awful stammer which is worse when he's nervous. 'Amanda is tough - she'll be able to handle prison but I'm not sure about David, I think he could fall to pieces there.' Whatever drove them to commit such vile acts, one more question remains - how did Kevin die? Despite two postmortem examinations, a Home Office pathologist's report, a toxicologist's report, an epilepsy expert's report and other medical reports, there is no clear evidence of a specific cause of death. Traces of weed-killer were discovered in his stomach and blood. 'I'm very disappointed we could not explain to Kevin Davies's mum how he died,' said DCI Brookes. 'I think the whole inquiry is frustrated. 'I think his body just gave up.' and I have just realised that they went to the school my kids went to when we lived in Lydney. Ann Glos

How do these evil people get away with such light sentences I exspect they will be complaining to the prison staff soonthat they havent been given a Game Boy. Itmakes me sick to the stomach. June.

This seems to have taken ages to come to court since theyw ere caught. Although the address is given as Gloucester, I believe I am right in saying that it actually happened in Bream in The Forest of Dean. I can't imagine how they managed to get away with it for so long as it is a small quite well to do village where everyone knows everyone else. The young man, I believe, came from Lydney but was a bit of an itinerant so his family had not missed him. It is unbelievable that people could be so cruel. i think the maximum they could have got was life so I am wondering why they didn't get it. Fancy being related to these people. (Probably if they are foresters they are related to many). Poor fellow, how he must have suffered. I have to say the final report didn't affect me as much because it had already been reported here some months back, I was shocked then. Ann Glos

I could not understand the sentence when I heard news - 10 years - proabbly do 6 is that justice?

Its beyond any words repeatable on here,, Didnt his family ever wonder where he was for all that time,,,,,

I didn't see the news tonight - it seems to have been an evening for distressing television. Awful.

These people are lowlife, and he considered them friends, in his poor deluded mind. The sentence should be life and mean life, I hope these evil people suffer in prison as much as that poor lad suffered in the shed. He wasn't freed, they will be, and will still have the chance to live their lives, something they denied him. Justice in this country is a joke, maybe we should look at some places where stoning and other methods are used to get rid of people who do wrong. For sure, those three deserve to be hung, or die a slow painful death. Rest in Peace, Kevin, your life wasn't great before they got hold of you but it must have been terrifying for you at the end.

this is a shocking case of abuse at its worst what kind of world are we living in

I agree David-I just couldn't comprehend what I was seeing-it was like seeing a video of a hostage in the middle east. not gloucstershire. Yet another example of what us tax payers will have to fork out for low life scum bags over the next 10 yrs. catherine xx

how come the evil live and the good die - that is what I need to know.

I heard this on the news this afternoon and I have to say it is the only story on the news for some time that has upset me. That poor man and his family who have had to sit through the evidence and video. Those responsible will be in prison in better conditions and with better food than they gave to him. That poor man thought they were his friends. Jacky

I also saw this on the news. So sick and evil. It happened in a quiet village, no one ever knows what goes on behind closed doors. The sickos did it for his benefit money,that shows how desperate for money they must have been. Apparently they all knew each other from childhood. How sad for the poor young man.

Three people who kept an epileptic man prisoner in a garden shed in Gloucestershire for six weeks have been jailed at Bristol Crown Court. Kevin Davies, 29, was found dead by paramedics at a house in Badgers Way, Bream on 26 September 2006. Amanda Baggus, who owned the shed, and her boyfriend David Lehane have been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Scott Andrews, who helped Baggus and Lehane keep Mr Davies prisoner, was sentenced to nine years. In her diary Baggus wrote about the punishments they inflicted on Kevin Davies and noted his cries for help. 'Systematic torture' They also made a hostage-style video of him in which they forced him to say he was being 'fed perfectly'. In fact he was being fed only scraps. The trio repeatedly tortured Kevin Davies in the shed 'The circumstances as a whole are extraordinary and the video you might expect to see come out of the Middle East but certainly not the Forest of Dean,' said Det Chief Insp Geoff Brookes of Gloucestershire Police. Ian Pringle, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Davies had been treated like an animal by the trio. 'He had been assaulted, he had been beaten and he had effectively been kept like a dog in a locked garden shed at night. 'In short, the last few months of this man's life must have been utterly miserable and inhumane. 'There was bruising to the right upper arm, to the left upper arm, to both legs, to the lower jaw both left and right, and there were burn marks which a pathologist described could have been caused by a hot knife. 'There was also a burn mark which could have been caused by a corrosive liquid. There were fractures to his ribs and he had suffered a fractured larynx. 'Burn marks covered 10% of the victim's body area.' 'Truly appalling' Kevin Davies had known both Lehane and Baggus for some years, but fell out with them after a car crash in May last year. The court heard that Baggus had blamed Mr Davies after a car had overturned and that it was this incident that was to kick-start their systematic torture and abuse of the victim. Kevin Davies was kept inside the shed for six weeks Originally the trio were charged with murder but the charge was dropped after experts ruled it was impossible to say whether Mr Davies' epilepsy could have contributed to his death. Lehane, 35, and Baggus, 26, both from Badgers Way, and Andrews, 27, of Hathaway Close, Gloucester, all pleaded guilty in May to false imprisonment and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Sentencing the three, the judge at Bristol Crown Court said: 'Kevin Davies had been a vulnerable young man, gullible and naive.' He also told the three that what they had done was 'truly appalling and utterly inhumane.'

i saw this on the news, disgusting low life scum should have been given life sentences, regardless of the ''cause'' of death - their actions were the reason for that poor man dying, what he went through for those months doesn't bear thinking about.

Oh my God, havent heard about this....in this case they should be hung.

it was apparently to do with a row over money and a car crash of which he was a passenger and they blamed him catherine xx

I heard about this tonight ...why did they do it ?

can't believe the 3 inbred evil scum from gloucester got done for false imprisonment and kidnap of the guy they kept hidden in their shed for 4 months.He died with weed killer in his blood and was fed on potato peelings. He was emanciated and made to film video's of how well he was treated. Apparently they couldn't prove if it was his epilepsy that caused his death. this beggars belief. catherine xx