Adelaide vigilantes jailed after holding sex offender captive during 12-hour torture frenzy

TWO vigilantes discovered an acquaintance was a convicted sex offender, then subjected him to a frenzy of torture and abuse while holding him captive for 12 hours. Now they’ve discovered how the law deals with vigilante attacks.

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TWO vigilantes who discovered an acquaintance was a convicted sex offender and held him captive for 12 hours at an Adelaide home while viciously assaulting him have been jailed.

Blade Antoine Didon, 25, and Tenneill Kathleen Pen-Dennis, 34, each pleaded guilty in the District Court to one aggravated count of detaining a person to commit an indictable offence and one aggravated count of causing harm with intent.

Their prolonged attack took place at an inner northern suburbs property on November 16 and 17, 2016.

The court heard the pair, who had a history of drug abuse, met the victim while visiting a friend’s house at Blair Athol the day before the assaults occurred.

Didon, Pen-Dennis, the victim and another person stayed overnight at the home but the next morning, Pen-Dennis discovered via the victim’s mobile phone that he was a convicted sex offender — and wrongly accused him of sexually assaulting her young son.

Judge Barry Beazley said Didon then told Pen-Dennis to leave the house with her son and began attacking the victim.

“You, Mr Didon, stabbed the victim in the webbing between his ring finger and little finger,” he said.

“You beat him with the broom handle over a 20-minute period while (another person) hit him with a black pole to which a hook was attached.

“You both continued to kick, punch and spray him with some form of spray before forcing him to sit in the shower. You told him to dress in pink pants.”

District Court Judge Barry Beazley described the terrifying ordeal of a convicted sex offender held captive by suburban vigilantes.

The court was told the victim was detained using a clothes rack as a makeshift cage.

“(The victim) asked to be taken to hospital which resulted in you, Mr Didon, stomping on the back of his head and smashing his face to the ground on two occasions, causing him to lose consciousness,” Judge Beazley said.

The court heard Pen-Dennis had been absent from the house while most of the assaults occurred, but when she returned she “helped the others tie extension cords on (the victim’s) face, hands and feet”.

“(Pen-Dennis) attempted to put socks in his mouth after Mr Didon and (another person) each struck (the victim) with the cord,” Judge Beazley said.

“At about 3am, you, Mr Didon, made him strip naked and sit in the shower to clean up his blood.

“You later went to the bathroom with a machete and struck him in the kneecap, telling him if he did not shut up you would kill him.

“You took him outside and struck him to the back of the head with the handle of the machete.”

The victim feared for his life and in the early morning he escaped and sought help from a neighbour while Didon, Pen-Dennis and another person slept.

The victim sustained a fractured eye socket and finger, a bilateral knee injury, cuts and bruises.

Judge Beazley sentenced Didon on April 13 to five years and one month in prison with a non-parole period of three years, backdated to when he was taken into custody in December 2016.

Pen-Dennis was sentenced to two years and eight months’ jail, with a non-parole period of one year and nine months, backdated to November 2016.