TWO thugs who beat and tortured a "friend" while telling him he was going to be killed have each been jailed for eight years.

A judge said Piotrjan Kuzbik and Andrzej Gibala subjected Marek Kerbowiak, 57, to "horrible acts of degradation resembling school playground bullying gone mad".

Judge Charles MacDonald, QC, added that neither Kuzbik, 42, nor 28-year-old Gibala had shown any remorse for what they had done.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that the three men and Zbigniew Pisarski, 38, came to England together from Poland to work and moved into a flat in Commercial Road, Paddock Wood.

Pisarski and Gibala were employed by Streamline Cabs, while Kuzbik, a married father-of-three, worked at a school, washing up.

Hugh Forgan, prosecuting, said the victim gave the other three a lift to England in his Mercedes car and there was some ill-feeling about the cost of the trip.

"It may be that was part of the motive for what happened," said Mr Forgan.

They had been in the country three weeks when the victim arrived home on October 21 2005 and found the other three had been drinking heavily.

Mr Forgan said they were in an excitable state. The victim was knocked to the floor by Gibala and lost consciousness. He was next aware of a cigarette being put on the back of his neck. Gibala was saying: "Kill the son of a bitch."

He was kicked in the head and jaw by Kuzbik. He suffered a heavy blow to the ear and lost two or three teeth when kicked in the face.

During his ordeal, Mr Kerbowiak was taken into the bathroom and assaulted and humiliated.

He was stripped and threatened with sexual assault. He was beaten with belts on his bare backside and treated like a prisoner. All the time, he was made stay on the floor and crawl.

Judge MacDonald said there came a time in the early hours when Mr Pisarski was told to leave the flat so that he would not witness Mr Kerbowiak’s execution.

After Mr Pisarski left a skipping rope was put around the victim’s neck and he was throttled.

Kuzbik and Gibala denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent and false imprisonment, but were convicted by a jury. Gibala was also convicted of making threats to kill.