TWO thugs who laughed as they put a man through an horrific torture ordeal have been locked up indefinitely.

David Bailey and John Bolan were told they would serve at least four years, with no guarantee of release at the end of their sentences.

Victim Christopher Swane, from Hythe, feared he would be killed as he was stabbed and slashed with knives and was deliberately burned.

A judge told Bailey, 42, and 43-year-old Bolan: “No one listening to the facts of this case would be unmoved by the sheer brutal violence you displayed, the humiliation and torture you meted out.”

Bailey, of Station Road East, Canterbury, and Bolan, of no fixed address, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how the pair burst into the victim’s flat in Sir John Moore Avenue, Hythe, on the evening of September 7 last year.

Mr Swane had gone to bed, while Nicholas Edwards and Bolan’s girlfriend had fallen asleep in the living room.

Peter Forbes, prosecuting, said Bolan immediately accused his girlfriend of cheating on him while he was in prison.

He asked Mr Edwards if it was him and grabbed him. Mr Swane entered the room and Bolan told him: “It’s you, it’s you.”

Bolan told Mr Swane that he was in for a hiding and started punching him in the face. Bolan went to the kitchen and returned with a knife.

“He started randomly slashing him across the face,” said Mr Forbes. “He tried to protect himself and his hand was also slashed.”

He put the knife down and picked up another. He put it against Mr Swane’s neck telling him: “I am going to have it.” Bolan then stabbed the victim in the neck and face, leaving him in agony.

But Bailey, who was said to be an alcoholic and drank nine litres of cider a day, then pressed a knife and fork into Mr Swane’s neck, telling him: “I would like to put this through your jugular.”

Bailey told the victim to beg and kiss his feet. He was so terrified, he did as he was told. Both Bailey and Bolan kicked him.

Bailey told Mr Swane to take his trousers down, before turning a furniture polish aerosol into a flame thrower and burning him.

Bailey said: “I don’t care. I burn people alive.” He told Mr Swane to lean over a chair and then lit the aerosol again, causing more burns.

Mr Forbes said Bailey fetched a liquid paraffin lighter bottle, poured it over the victim and set it alight.

“He was by now on the ground in extreme agony,” said the prosecutor. “Bailey started kicking him in the chest, stomach and legs. He was wearing boots with steel toecaps.”

Not only was Mr Swane covered in blood, but it was all over the floor and walls. Both Bailey and Bolan pointed and laughed at him.