A GANG leader cleared of murdering a North-East policem officer was last night facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of the kidnap and horrific torture of two men.

Self-styled "Prince Of Darkness" Mark Lambie, 30, was convicted at the Old Bailey yesterday of kidnapping two men in London, who were tortured with a hammer, an electric iron and by pouring boiling water on their genitals.

Lambie walked free from the same court in 1987 after being acquitted of the murder of Sunderland-born PC Keith Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm riots. PC Blakelock was hacked to death during the riot in the Tottenham area of North London. His wife Elizabeth, who has since remarried, is still living in the North-East.

Two years after the murder Lambie, then 16, was acquitted of the murder although co-accused Winston Silcott was convicted. Silcott was later cleared by the Court of Appeal and received £50,000 damages.

Yesterday, officers outside the Old Bailey said the conviction was a breakthrough in the fight against gun crime.

Lambie's victims, Gregory Smith and Twaine Morris, were so afraid they would die that they ran to police when they escaped their captors.

But Detective Inspector Peter Lansdown said: "They feel they will die whether they gave evidence or not."

In court, Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting, said the men had been lured to Broadwater Farm where they were kidnapped at gunpoint by up to 14 men.

They were taken to a flat nearby where they were tortured as the gangsters demanded money and drugs.