A psychopathic torturer has been jailed for 11 years for inflicting six years of “living hell” including violence, blackmail and mental cruelty on a vulnerable alcoholic man.

Mark Whitteron derived sadistic pleasure from abusing his 53-year-old victim with a relentless campaign of terror motivated by greed and jealousy, a judge at Bradford Crown Court said yesterday.

Whitteron, 46, of Fern Street, Holme Wood, Bradford, was branded a public danger by a psychiatrist and his probation officer.

He appeared in the dock from custody after the judge, Recorder Richard Mansell QC, withdrew his bail at his last court hearing.

Whitteron was sentenced to a 16-year extended jail sentence. He will serve half of the 11-year custodial element behind bars and the rest on a long licence, stretching more than ten years.

He pleaded guilty to six offences of blackmail and to causing his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, grievous bodily harm with intent and actual bodily harm.

Recorder Mansell said Whitteron picked on a man vulnerable to exploitation. He had a long-standing alcohol dependency and suffered from a depressive illness.

The judge said Whitteron drew sadistic pleasure from making his victim’s life a misery.

He forced him into handing over £200 a month of his pension and disability living allowance by pretending a gang of violent drug dealers was chasing him for repayment of a £20,000 loan that had been sold on to them.

Whitteron’s campaign of mental and physical terror included: l Smashing his victim on his knuckles with a hammer, breaking three fingers l Cutting him on the neck with a knife l Fracturing his finger by bending it back l Sticking a screwdriver in his ear until it bled l Kicking him on the buttocks l Starving him for days on end and refusing to let him use the toilet l Threatening that the gang would rape his son and throw acid in his daughter’s face Recorder Mansell said Whitteron made life a living hell for the man. His victim told the police: “I would not eat. I could not wait until Wednesdays and Saturdays because those were the days I went to my mother’s and got well fed.”

When Whitteron found out the man was in line for a £6,000 inheritence, he put on still more pressure, inflicting physical injuries including the hammer attack that caused excruciating pain and left the man’s fingers damaged and inflexible.

Recorder Mansell told Whitteron: “You simply preyed on a more vulnerable individual in a psychopathic way.

“You exploited him systematically and cruelly, terrorising him.”

Whitteron’s sociopathic controlling tendencies made him a danger to anyone he was in a relationship or friendship with, noted the judge.

His previous convictions included holding a knife to a woman partner’s throat and threatening to kill her.

After the case, Detective Constable Debbie Gargon, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “This was a difficult and lengthy investigation of numerous offences committed over a long period of time during which Whitteron terrorised the victim and subjected him to horrendous acts of violence and threatened both him and his family.

“The victim was terrified of Whitteron but eventually had the courage to come forward and tell the police.

“It is gratifying that Whitteron has received a significant sentence. The victim has been traumatised by the events but is now making steady and positive progress in his recovery.”