The prison sentences imposed on members of a gang who tortured and murdered a man over a £300 drug debt could be increased.

Adam Clapham was tied to a chair, beaten with a hammer and had boiling water poured over him over a five-hour period, before he was killed in a basement in Rotherham in 2022.

The 31-year-old was also stripped and forced to perform sex acts with another man who was also being held captive.

They were both blamed after £300 of drug money went missing from an address that was being used for dealing.

Top row: Muhammad Ashraf, Arbab Yusuf, Kieron Millar. Bottom row from Robert Crookes and Lynette Myers.

Six members of the gang were jailed at Sheffield Crown Court in July, but the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) said it is reviewing each of the sentences and they could be increased in the Court of Appeal.

Ring leader Arbab Yusuf, of Lord Street in Rotherham, was sentenced to a minimum of 39 years in prison, after he was found guilty of murder, grievous bodily harm (GBH), two counts of false imprisonment and rape.

Robert Crookes, 31, of no fixed address, was jailed for a minimum of 37 years after he was convicted of the same offences.

Muhammad Ashraf, 18, of Fraser Road in Rotherham, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were also convicted of those offences. They were jailed for 28 years and 21 years respectively.

Kieron Millar, 30, of Mount Pleasant in Rotherham, was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years for murder, GBH, and two counts of false imprisonment. He was found not guilty of rape.

Lynette Myers, 39, of Hounsfield Crescent in Rotherham, was jailed for at least 12 years for GBH and one count of false imprisonment. She was found not guilty of murder, one count of false imprisonment, and rape.

In court, Mr Clapham’s mother Carol Clapham, said: “The circumstances of his death give me nightmares and will forever be imprinted in my thoughts.

“No-one deserves what happened to Adam.”

Speaking after the trial, Detective Chief Inspector Emma Knight said “words cannot express the degree of cruelty demonstrated” by the gang members who committed “such horrific crimes”.

An AGO spokesman said: "I can confirm the AGO has received a referral. The case is under review and the deadline to refer to the Court of Appeal is August 21."

If referred, the Court of Appeal will then decide whether the sentences were unduly lenient.

Gang who tortured and murdered man in Yorkshire could be jailed for longer