Two attackers tortured a man at a house in Lanarkshire after a row over cryptocurrency.
Harre Yonis, 30, and Abdullahi Abubakar, 28, put Thembalethu Ndlovu through a nine-hour ordeal at a house in Coatbridge on April 9 last year.
Yonis alleged he had been the victim of a scam by a friend of Mr Ndlovu.
He was tied up, stripped, attacked with weapons and had boiling water poured across his body leaving him with permanent burns.
Yonis and Abubakar now face lengthy jail terms after they appeared in the dock at the High Court in Glasgow.
They both pled guilty to assaulting Mr Ndlovu to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement while detaining him against his will.
The pair will be sentenced later this month.
The court heard how Yonis’s girlfriend had asked for the victim to help set up a cryptocurrency account.
He later went with a friend to meet her and Yonis.
But, days later, Yonis called Mr Ndlovu claiming to have been “ripped off” when the account was set up.
Mr Ndlovu went to the house in Coatbridge to then try and resolve matters.
Both Yonis and Abubakar were among the people there.
The pair soon turned on Mr Ndlovu, who initially had a rope put around his neck and a large knife held to his face.
His hands were bound together and a sock stuffed in his mouth to stop him yelling for help.
Prosecutor Mark Mohammed said: “Mr Ndlovu was stripped and left only wearing his long johns.
“Boiling water was then poured onto his backside causing extreme pain.
“The men made repeated demands for money.”
At one stage, Yonis texted associates asking them for suggestions as to what to do to Mr Ndlovu next.
The terrified victim was then punched, kicked, hit with a spade and stabbed in the legs.
Mr Ndlovu was soon forced to message his partner to get her to transfer money.
The court heard they got a total of £970.
After the attackers left at one point, Mr Ndlovu was able to text his partner begging: “Call police. They want to kill me.”
He also had a brief video call with a friend saying he was in “big trouble”.
Mr Mohammed: “Mr Ndlovu was crying, had two black eyes and looked like he had been tortured.”
After a call for help by the victim’s girlfriend, armed police swooped on the house around 5am the next morning.
Mr Ndlovu was discovered still tied up on a bed. The two attackers were in the living room.
The court heard Mr Ndlovu had to be transferred to a plastic surgery unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary due to his burns.
Judge Olga Pastportnikov remanded Yonis and Abubakar, both of Coatbridge, in custody as sentencing was deferred for reports.
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