TWO men who terrorised a householder in a night-time raid sparked by a text message have failed to persuade top judges their sentences were too severe.
Kevin Paul O'Flaherty, 29, and Aaron Michael Parker, 35, were convicted of false imprisonment and of assaulting Peter Lewis after a trial at Preston Crown Court last August.
O'Flaherty, of Oban Drive, Blackburn, received a two-year term, while Parker, of Ailsa Road, Blackburn, who played the leading role, was told he would be jailed until he was not longer a danger to the public.
Parker and O'Flaherty went to Mr Lewis' home late at night on December 6, 2005, after Parker took offence at a text message he claimed had previously been sent by Mr Lewis.
Once inside his home, O'Flaherty barred the door to prevent his victim's flight, while Parker threatened Mr Lewis with a meat cleaver, then beating him with a hammer on the buttocks.
His ordeal only ended when he was finally able to escape the house.
Mr Justice Ramsey - sitting in London's Appeal Court with Lord Justice Rix and Judge Sir Richard Curtis - upheld the sentences.
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