AN EVIL sadist who tortured a woman with a blowtorch could be locked up for life for imprisoning his terrified girlfriend in an attic flat and threatening to "bust her skull open".

CCTV footage of Nicola Slater begging for help after running up the steps to Bradford Central Police Station to escape "madman" Andrew Delsol was played at his trial at Bradford Crown Court.

A jury also heard how he would "froth at the mouth" during angry rages.

Yesterday Delsol, 50, was convicted of two offences of falsely imprisoning Miss Slater, 35, at his address in Gaythorne Road, West Bowling, Bradford; two of common assault and one of possessing a bladed martial arts weapon. He was cleared of an offence of battery.

During the trial, the jury was told Delsol had "committed serious acts of violence on women in the past".

He was imprisoned for eight years in 2002 for subjecting a 16-year-old girl to almost a week of terror, including threatening to dismember her, while holding her captive.

He slit the vulnerable teenager's throat, repeatedly kicked and punched her and told her he was going to chop her up with an axe while she was still alive.

That sentence came less than three years after Delsol was released from a 15-year jail term for torturing a Bradford woman with a blowtorch. He beat her with a stick, burned her and forced her out of an attic window with a rope around her neck.

At the time he was on bail and awaiting trial for a sadistic attack on a previous girlfriend while he was living in Bradford. He was jailed for two years nine months for the assaults, including fracturing her skull.

He was also only the third person in the country to be made subject of a Violent Offender Order in 2009 because of concerns about his behaviour while out on licence and living at a hostel in Blackburn.

The order, made by Lancashire Police, meant he had to report to police and was banned from contacting three women, with police saying he posed a very serious risk to women.

Miss Slater told the jury last week she met Delsol in March last year and he soon became aggressive and controlling.

She wept as she related how he locked her in his attic flat for hours on end, flew into rages and repeatedly threatened to "bust her skull open."

He would froth at the mouth and go crazy like a madman.

"I was treading on eggshells all the time," she said.

On July 30, she ran into Trafalgar House police station after contriving to stay several yards ahead of Delsol as they walked to the Job Centre.

Judge Hatton made a restraining banning Delsol from having any contact with Miss Slater.

He said: "In view of the defendant's record for extremely unpleasant and serious violence, it is in my power to pass a sentence of life imprisonment or an extended sentence."

After the case, Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Argyro West said: "Andrew Delsol has today been found guilty of two charges of assault, two charges of false imprisonment and possessing an offensive weapon. His behaviour has revealed a deeply disturbing pattern of abusive and violent behaviour towards women.

"I would like to thank the victim in this case for her courage in reporting the offences and in giving evidence. It is through her bravery that this man has been prosecuted and is now facing a substantial prison sentence.

"Delsol is clearly a dangerous and abusive man whose pattern of offending presents a serious and significant risk of harm to women. I hope that his victim can take some comfort from the verdict handed down today."

Delsol was remanded back into custody by Judge David Hatton QC to be sentenced on March 9.

The judge adjourned the case so that Delsol, who had sacked three barristers, could obtain new legal representation.

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