A SWINDON thug, caged for brutally attacking a woman with a dog chain and a taser, has been ordered to serve an extra month behind bars for wasting the time of judges in a hopeless appeal.

Samuel Kofi Ackah, 35, whipped his terrified victim, subjected her to demeaning and degrading verbal abuse and zapped her so badly with the taser that she was left permanently scarred. Ackah, of County Road, was jailed for 10 years at Swindon Crown Court after he was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in April 2012. Today, three of the country's most senior judges at London's Appeal Court rejected a sentence challenge by Ackah, branding it totally without merit.

In an extremely rare move, the exasperated judges ordered him to serve four extra weeks behind bars for bothering the court with his groundless appeal.

Lady Justice Macur said Ackah and his two accomplices armed themselves with a taser, a wooden board and a dog chain and travelled to the home of a hated rival. When they discovered the man was not home at his Kirkstall Close property, the trio launched into a violent attack on his girlfriend – later described by Wiltshire Police as prolonged, unprovoked and vicious.

The woman was knocked to the floor, whipped and told she was going to be shot.Ackah shocked her all over her body with the taser, applying it to her neck for so long that she was burned and scarred by it, the appeal judge said. Ackah then subjected her to demeaning and degrading taunts, making crude sexual remarksas he continued to zap her all over her body. The woman was so frightened by the threats that she did not seek medical help for an hour after her three attackers had left. She suffered burns from the stun gun, as well as cuts, scratches and a large lump on her head. She later said she had suffered significant psychological harm as a result of the attack, enduring the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and needing prescription anti-despressants to recover, the appeal judge added.

Ackah was pinpointed by the sentencing judge as the ringleader of the callous assault, before he was jailed alongside the other two thugs, who were also found guilty of wounding with intent.

Applying to appeal, Ackah’s lawyers argued that the sentencing judge took an unnecessarily high starting point when calculating his ultimate sentence, resulting in a manifestly excessive jail term. But Lady Justice Macur, sitting with Mr Justice Burton and Judge Richard Griffith-Jones, said: “We find absolutely nothing of merit whatsover in such contentions. This application is dismissed.”

The appeal judge slammed Ackah’s decision to pursue a challenge that was totally without merit, despite a warning by another judge who previously rejected it, thereby clogging up the court's time. “We direct that four weeks should be deducted from the time Ackah has already served.” This extra month will be added to the end of Ackah’s jail term.