Woman held hostage by men who threatened to drown her and feed her to dogs

Two men who held a woman hostage in a flat and told her she would be fed to dogs have been jailed.

Daniel O’Neill and John Sweeney – both 50 – took the 33-year-old captive at a property in Dalmuir, West Dunbartonshire, on June 26, 2023.

The victim had been friends with Sweeney’s partner and had gone that night with a friend to the flat where the couple lived.

The victim stated that she and Sweeney “did not really like each other”. She described him as “not very cheery with me”.

She first met Sweeney and his partner in the flat, but had not noticed O’Neill.

The woman was initially offered a cup of tea but told the High Court in Glasgow how O’Neill had come down and started attacking her.

“He was rushing towards me,” she said, “He was hitting me – I put my hands up, but he was getting everywhere.

“It was repeated – that was why I had to defend myself.

“I was taken by surprise. He is a big man.”

The woman said her friend was ordered to sit on the couch before he was allowed to leave.

The victim then recalled O’Neill – helped this time by Sweeney – binding her feet and legs together with a rope or cable as she was put on the floor.

She told jurors: “If Daniel was telling John to do something, he would do it.”

Despite what was happening, the woman claimed O’Neill was “surprisingly quite calm”.

As the violence continued, the trial heard O’Neill kicked her in the ribs, the victim’s nose ended up swollen and an earring “ripped out”.

Giving evidence behind screens, she told the court: “I was scared. I was asking him to stop, but he was not at all.

“He started getting angrier, the more it went on.”

The woman also spoke of both attackers being armed with a knife at one stage.

She then had a pillowcase pulled over her head, and she was wrapped in a polythene sheet.

There was a threat that she would “be put into deep water” or be left with aggressive dogs “who had not been fed for four days”.

The woman stated she felt as if the ordeal lasted hours.

There was a claim heard that she had once allegedly stolen from O’Neill.

The court heard the attackers eventually became “paranoid” that her friend may have alerted police.

They untied the victim, but still kept her at the flat.

She was let go later that morning, although she was warned she would be “killed” if she reported them.

It was only after the victim told another woman she knew that police were called.

The victim told the trial she suffered a number of injuries, including to her ribs, nose and eyes.

O’Neill and Sweeney were convicted of assault and abduction following a trial.

Both already had lengthy criminal records – Sweeney had two previous high court convictions for violence.

Lord Arthurson jailed the pair for six years each.

He stated O’Neill had been the “principal actor” in the crime with Sweeney his “willing assistant”.

The judge also imposed a non-harassment order banning the pair from contacting the woman indefinitely.

Sweeney’s partner had also faced the same charge, but jurors found her not guilty.

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