Five guilty of murdering Adam Clapham in Rotherham over drugs debt

Five gang members have been found guilty of murdering a man who was tortured for five hours while imprisoned in a cellar.

Adam Clapham, 31, was tied to a chair, beaten with a hammer and had boiling water poured over him while he was kept in a basement in Rotherham on 18 September last year.

Jurors heard that Mr Clapham and another man were imprisoned after being blamed for £300 of drug money going missing from the address.

They were also filmed as they were forced to perform sex acts on each other.

Mr Clapham had more than 200 injuries, including 52 to his head.

Prosecutors said the "level and extent of the violence inflicted was utterly horrific".

During the trial at Sheffield Crown Court, the jury heard that Mr Clapham's body was found at the house on Spring Street the day after his death.

The second victim told the court he heard Adam "screaming" before he died.

The man told how he was "grabbed" by four people when he arrived at Spring Street and was later beaten with a metal pole, tied up and had bottles smashed over his head.

He said he was in the bathroom when Adam was taken to the basement of the property where they were later assaulted together. He said he saw Adam being hit with a hammer and bricks.

The man was found close to Rotherham town centre on 18 September and taken to hospital for treatment.

Mr Clapham, who had a young daughter, was found naked in a sleeping bag in the dining room of the house where he died.

Five people were found guilty of murder: Muhammad Ashraf, 18, of Fraser Road, Rotherham, Arbab Yusuf, 24, of Lord Street, Rotherham, Kieron Millar, 30, of Mount Pleasant Road, Rotherham, Robert Crookes, 31, of no fixed abode, and a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named.

Ashraf, Yusuf, Crookes and the 17-year-old were also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, false imprisonment and rape.

Millar and a sixth defendant, Lynette Myers, 39, of Hounsfield Crescent, Rotherham, were found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and false imprisonment.

A seventh defendant - Martin Shaw, 44, of Norfolk Court, Rotherham - was cleared of one count of assisting offenders.

Claire Macdonald, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The level and extent of the violence inflicted was utterly horrific. One of the victims did not survive, and the second was badly injured.

"The motive for the attack appeared to be a £300 drug debt."

She added: "It is absolutely tragic that one man has lost his life and another suffered appalling injuries as a result of the brutal vengeance inflicted by this gang."

The convicted defendants will be sentenced on 24 July at Sheffield Crown Court.

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