A man was driven to a remote woodyard where he was beaten, forced to eat dog faeces and sprayed with paint, a court has heard.

Darryl Turner also had his hair and eyebrows clipped off, was forced to strip to his underwear and had the word “thief” painted on his back.

His ordeal at Sedge Fen, near Mildenhall, only ended with him jumping from a bridge into a river.

At Ipswich Crown Court, on Wednesday four men, who had pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Turner to inflict actual bodily harm, were sentenced.

Gary Buckley, 19, of West Meadows, Ipswich, who is currently serving another custodial sentence, was sent to a Young Offenders’ Institution for 27 months; a 17-year-old, from Isleham, was sentenced to 10 months’ custody; while Ronald Vinden, 18, of Featherstone, Wolverhampton, received eight months suspended for 18 months; and Michael Jones, 21, of Wellington Close, West Row, received 10 months suspended for 18 months.

The incident began on August 20 last year when Mr Turner received a phone call inviting him to go for a drink to celebrate Vinden’s birthday.

The court heard he met Vinden, Buckley and the 17-year-old in Mildenhall and got into Vinden’s van. He was driven to a woodyard at Sedge Fen where Jones was living. Buckley dragged him from the van and punched him and the 17-year-old also joined in.

After being forced to strip to his boxer shorts petrol was poured over his clothes and were set alight. The victim was then hit with a piece of wood and forced to eat dog faeces.

Jones appeared with an extension lead and clippers which Buckley used to clip off Mr Turner’s hair and eyebrows.

Prosecutor Christopher Morgan said that spray paint was used to write the word thief onto Mr Turner’s back.The court heard that Mr Turner and another man had found two gold rings in Mildenhall and had sold them for �300.

Mr Morgan said it appeared the jewellery may have belonged to one of the group of attackers.

Georgina Gibbs, for Jones, said he regretted his involvement in the incident and has shown remorse.

Buckley admitted there had been no excuse for his behaviour but denied having used petrol, said his barrister Brian Reece.

Michael Magarian said that the 17-year-old had shown remorse.

For Vinden, David Marbie-Sperry said he realised it had been “disgraceful’ behaviour”.

In addition to the suspended sentences, Jones was ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and pay �500 compensation, while Vinden must do 160 hours work and also pay �500.