A drug dealer who kidnapped and terrorised a man who "grassed up" his associates is facing up to six years behind bars.

Ricardo McPherson, of Waterloo Road, in Epsom, put his petrified victim Karl Irving through a horrifying five-hour ordeal before viciously assaulting him in Mitcham.

A traumatised Mr Irving, from Guildford, was told he would have acid poured into his eyes while he was held captive in the defendant's car.

The nightmare began the previous day, on October 20 last year, when three black men with Jamaican accents turned up at his flat demanding payment for an array of drugs.

He called police who arrested four men, three of whom were known associates of McPherson, 27.

The next day he was out on the street when a car pulled up and McPherson shouted out of the vehicle's window: "Oi. Where are my boys?".

The victim protested his innocence but was bundled into the car and driven 25 miles to Mitcham while he was violently beaten.

During the journey, which began in Guildford, McPherson told his prisoner: "You want to see what we do to grasses. We'll kill you and bury you."

On arrival in Mitcham four henchmen were waiting and began attacking Mr Irving.

His ordeal only came to an end when a pensioner saw him being kicked and stamped on and crying "Help me! They are trying to kill me!".

McPherson claimed in court Mr Irving came on the journey willingly but that a fight erupted in the car, spilling out on to the street.

He told the court: "He was free to leave anytime he wanted, he wanted to come. I felt sorry for him because he was hungry and wanted something to eat.

"They got out of the car and the fighting started all over again. I tried to calm it down. I didn't touch Mr Irving."

After the guilty verdicts were announced last week, the jury took the unusual step of telling Judge Jonathan Davies they were concerned for Mr Irving's future safety. The judge, Mr Recorder Jonathan Davies, said he was confident police would take all possible steps to protect him from any reprisals.

McPherson was found guilty, at Guildford Crown Court on Friday, of false imprisonment, making a threat to kill and assault by beating.

He will be sentenced at the same court on a later date.