A TERRIFIED chip shop owner thought he was a dead man when he was captured and tortured while making a delivery.

Adnan Eskisan was set upon by two men. A belt was put around his neck and tightened until he frothed at the mouth.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the married father-of-four was headbutted and the soles of his feet were beaten with a metal pole.

Mr Eskisan, who owns the Manor Plaice, in Braintree, was delivering food in Osmond Close, Black Notley.

He had been waiting for a customer to answer the door when his attackers grabbed his money bag, hit him over the head with it and bundled him into the back seat of their car.

The court heard Sinan Akar, 35, of High Road, Romford, and Ramazan Kussan, 31, of Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, threatened him with a knife and beat him.

The pair, who were both jailed for six years and three months, told him he would be sexually assaulted by Arabs and a recording would be put on the internet, unless he agreed to pay £10,000.

Akar and Kussan drove him to a field and beat him up.

Mr Eskisan, 37, said: “I was scared for my life. I was thinking I was a dead man.”

He agreed to pay £5,000, but was told it was not enough and, in the end, offered to pay them £10,000 in three weeks.

The two thugs were later arrested at Heathrow Airport as they tried to flee the country.

The court was told the pair had been allowed to run a pizza outlet for six weeks from their victim’s premises, in Manor Street.

Akar and Kussan denied but were convicted of blackmail and robbery, on December 30.

Judge Harris told the pair: “You caused fear, terror and humiliation – unpleasant violence was used and it was plainly pre-planned and premeditated.

“They were vile threats of sexual assault and humiliation. It was a wholly terrifying episode.

“The motive for what you did still remains unclear, but there was no justification for what happened.”

Mr Eskisan said: “I’m still worried for my four kids, even though they are now behind bars. Whenever I make a delivery, I still think about it.”