TWO thugs have been jailed by a crown court judge for six years for the brutal blackmail of a Sikh man. Judge Philip Statman told Jaspal Sandhu and Gurdeep Sangha: “Blackmail is a wicked crime. Your victim was imprisoned by you for somewhere in the region of two hours. “He was placed in handcuffs, humiliated, punched and kicked and a nasty wound was inflicted upon his head.” Sangha, 33, of Coldharbour Road, Northfleet, and Sandhu, 24, of The Clovers, Northfleet, were convicted of false imprisonment, blackmail and unlawful wounding. Maidstone Crown Court heard how victim Jagandeep Singh Sekhon was lured to a room over the Prince of Wales pub in Milton Road, Gravesend, on December 16 last year. Mr Sekhon told how men he considered to be friends took video film of him handcuffed and with his trousers down and demanded £40,000. He was hit several times. Mr Sekhon, who had recently married, told the jury: “There were various threats that if I didn’t pay the money, my fingers were going to get chopped off.” Sangha, a married father of two, produced some razors and threatened to shave half of his beard off – something his religion forbids. “After I said I needed more time to get the money, I received another thrashing,” he said. Mr Sekhon said of his wife: “When she saw me, she broke down. I didn’t tell her the truth. I said I got jumped on.” He claimed he paid £6,000 to Sahota, having borrowed £2,000 from his wife and £4,000 from his mother. Mr Sekhon moved out of Gravesend and never went back. He decided not to go to the police. He gave a statement after the police contacted him. Sangha did not give evidence. Judge Statman told Sandhu and Sangha: “No one who saw the video played in this court could have failed to have been moved by it. “It was nasty in the extreme, seeing this level of violence and humiliation perpetrated upon a man who was handcuffed and couldn’t escape from his ordeal.” Det Ch Inspector Martin Harris, who led the investigation, said: “False imprisonment and blackmail cases are unusual, The details of these men’s activities came to light as a result of another abduction inquiry that Kent Police officers were already investigating. “A large number of officers were involved in this case, which was all happening within one section of the community. “The verdicts indicate the commitment Kent Police has to investigate major and serious crimes, wherever and whenever they occur, and to continue to work with all communities to bring offenders to justice. “I hope this success will continue to make people in those communities to feel confident that when a crime affects them we will do everything possible to make criminals account for their actions.” On sentencing, His Honour Judge Statman praised the prosecution and investigation team for their great skill.