TWO men who tortured a Blackburn man in his own home by burning him with an iron have both been jailed indefinitely.

Preston Crown Court heard how the 25-year-old victim could smell burned flesh when an iron was pressed against his stomach.

He was also punched, kicked, thrown about the room and threatened with a knife.

Leonard McLeod and Craig Hawley were told yesterday they will have to serve a minimum of three years prison, less time on remand, before they can be considered for release.

They will only be released when no longer considered a danger.

Judge Norman Wright told the pair: "This was both a brutal and sadistic attack.

"The use of the iron can, in my judgment, be pro-perly characterised as torture".

The injured man, Nicholas Hodgkinson, was attacked in his own home at Mill Hill by the pair he had regarded as good friends.

As he sat in a chair, his arms were held behind him while the other defendant pressed an iron onto his stomach.

The overall incident lasted about an hour.

The judge said the defendants had been so affected by alcohol that they wrongly and without any foundation, accused the victim of not caring pro-perly for his mother.

There was even an attempt to cut his shoulder with a knife and a threat to cut his fingers off. McLeod, 29, of St Aidan's Avenue, Blackburn and Hawley, 22, of Ennerdale Avenue, Blackburn had admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Defence counsel said they were genuinely sorry. The three were said to have been drinking when an argu-ment developed.

In passing sentence, the judge said: “The scars on his chest will be a lifetime memento of what happened over the course of that night.No doubt the psych-ological scars will be profound and may enjure for his lifetime.

“It was all done by people he thought were his fri-ends.”

Speaking after senten-cing, the officer in the case, Detective Constable Mark Cruise, said: “This was a violent and vicious attack and I am satisfied with the sentence.

“This should demonstrate the determination of the police to protect members of the public from dangerous offenders.”