Two men who high-fived each other after filming themselves raping a woman in a Soho nightclub have each been jailed for seven and half years.

Ferdinando Orlando, 25, and Lorenzo Costanzo, 26, both Italian nationals, carried out the attack in the maintenance room of the Toy Room club on Argyll Street in central London on 26 February 2017.

CCTV captured the men high-fiving and hugging each other afterwards, while their 23-year-old victim lay in the club’s toilets in extreme pain.

Police said the two men escaped justice for more than a year after the attack by returning to Italy, but they were eventually caught after Costanzo returned to the UK to watch an Arsenal v Milan football match in London.

Following a trial at Isleworth crown court, the jury on Friday found both men guilty of two counts of rape. Judge Giles Curtis-Raleigh sentenced Orlando and Costanzo to seven-and-a-half years in prison each.

In an impact statement, the victim said she remembered feeling in “incredible pain” and was left barely able to walk. The rape had left her in “constant fear” and unable to relax or enjoy drinking with friends when she goes out.

The victim, who could not remember the attack, added: “When I found out more than one man was involved I felt violently ill with the thought that two men did something this horrible … to me.”

After discovering her attackers had filmed the rape, she said she felt so angry it “made me want to vomit”.

She added: “I truly struggle with how two humans could behave like such animals to another person and think of that as funny and like a badge of honour. I did not consent to having sex with either or both of these people that night or at any other time.”

After the attack, the woman was helped home by a French couple, and a housemate called the ambulance service who alerted the police. She was later taken to hospital for surgery for her injuries.

Police said the two men met in the UK while studying English in a language school in central London.

Costanzo left the UK hours after the attack, with Orlando returning home about a week later.

Costanzo was arrested at Heathrow airport in March 2018, while Orlando later contacted police and returned to the UK by appointment where he was arrested.

During the trial, the two men admitted watching mobile phone video of the incident, but claimed they had consensual sex with the victim.

DS Rebecca Woodsford, from the Metropolitan police, said: “Both men put the victim through a traumatic ordeal. She has been left with severe psychological injuries and was injured that night, which caused her and police to suspect she had been a victim of assault. She was not aware until the defence put their case to her in court the full extent of what had happened in that maintenance room.”

A spokesman for the Toy Room nightclub said: “We’re appalled by this incident, and our thoughts go out to the victim. The safety of our guests is our top priority, and we’ve done everything we can to cooperate fully with the police, to help them bring this case to trial and ensure a conviction.”