Sadist who tortured young children with pliers and samurai swords jailed for life

A man who subjected young children to "horrendous" torture and sexual abuse has been jailed for life. Dean Cardiss, 33, was described as a man who took "sick satisfaction" in torturing children after his sadistic actions left a four-year-old boy with injuries to his brain, spine, back and pelvis.

During a trial at Leeds Crown Court, a jury heard how had used pliers, a wooden plank, a horse whip and even a samurai sword to inflict injuries on the small boy in the Leeds area in 2015.

When the "lifeless" body of the boy was taken to Leeds General Infirmary, medics found evidence he had been sexually abused. Cardiss had also used a hot hairdryer to leave "branding" on the boy's body.

Cardiss was also found guilty of torturing two girls aged three or four at four at the time with hair straighteners and hairdryers, reported the Yorkshire Evening Post.

He was found guilty of one count of wounding with intent, five counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm, one count of assault by penetration and nine counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He has now been sentenced to life with a minimum of 11 years in jail.

Detective Chief Inspector Warren Stevenson, of West Yorkshire Police Protective Services Crime, said: "Cardiss was responsible for inflicting an horrendous catalogue of abuse on the victims, who were vulnerable and defenceless young children.

"The nature of the injuries he caused to them, particularly to the young boy, indicate that these were systematic and deliberate acts from which he derived some sort of sick satisfaction and sense of power.

"The evidence identified during our investigation shows that he is clearly a controlling bully of the worst kind and we hope the significant sentence he has received will provide some reassurance to the families of the victims and to the wider community who will be understandably shocked by what he has done.

"We will always treat any offences of abuse against children very seriously and we have specialist safeguarding officers who will continue to work closely with their colleagues in local authorities and other partner agencies to protect children from harm.

"This was an extremely challenging case where painstaking efforts were required to get the accounts of these young victims, and we are very grateful to all the health and social care professionals who played their part in bringing this case to a successful conclusion."