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A gang who brutally tortured a man for over a WEEK after wrongly believing he was a paedophile have been jailed for 78 years.

The five men, one woman and a 17-year-old youth subjected the 20-year-old victim to the barbaric attack during a campaign of "degrading and gratuitous" violence.

A court heard the vulnerable man was left with a broken jaw and ribs, missing teeth, cigarette burns and had the word "paedo" carved into his leg with a machete.

The victim, who cannot be named, was kept against his will at a house in Woodside, Telford, Shrops., by 26-year-old "ringleader" Stephanie Titley.

Over several days last summer the young man suffered "degrading and dehumanising" violence and torture at the hands of Titley and her evil pals.

He was punched, kicked, burnt, cut with knives and a machete after the "malicious lies" were spread about the victim being a paedophile.

The group of thugs also pulled out his teeth, burnt him with hair straighteners and battered him with a broom.

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The victim was found in a room with blood splattered on the walls, carpet and mattress on September 1 last year after two of the group boasted about what they had done.

A senior police officer described the "truly shocking, senseless and despicable" attack as the worst he had ever seen in his 21 year career.

Today Luke Mansell, 23, Nathan Bates, 19, Daniel Doyle, 24, Dean Butler, 23, Gavin Smith, 19, Titley and the 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named, were jailed at Stafford Crown Court.

They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and false imprisonment.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Dove said each of the defendants played a part on the "appalling" treatment of the victim.

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He added: "He was horribly injured and none of you did anything to seek help and assistance for him. You showed him no humanity.

"You left him only returning to inflict more terrible violence upon him.

"He should have received your help, support and encouragement. Instead a vicious lie was spread about him that he was a paedophile.

"There is not and never was any truth in that but you appear to have latched on to that to justify your vile and sadistic torture of him.

"It led to cruel and degrading violence on that young man. It was at best vigilantasim and at its heart was sadistic torture.

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"The gratuitous violence and torture went on and on. I have no doubt he would have thought you were going to kill him. He had every reason to think so."

Titley had befriended the victim and offered him a place to stay before the allegations were made he was a child abuser.

The court heard at no point was pity shown towards him and the defendants repeatedly returned to torture and abuse him.

The victim has suffered "long lasting mental and physical harm" as a result of the horrific ordeal.

Detective Inspector Mark Bellamy, from West Mercia Police , said: "The victim in this case was subjected to a truly shocking and senseless attack over a prolonged period of time, the like of which I have never seen in 21 years as a police officer.

"The horrific ordeal that he experienced will have a long-lasting effect, both physically and psychologically, and I would like to pay tribute to his outstanding bravery.

"I would also like to make it clear that no allegations of sexual assault have ever been received by police regarding this man.

"Incidents of this nature are fortunately rare in the area served by West Mercia Police and a robust and comprehensive investigation was conducted by our officers to ensure the perpetrators faced justice for their despicable actions."

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Superintendent Tom Harding, Local Policing Commander for Telford and Wrekin, said: "Within a number of hours of a report being made to police that an unknown male had been assaulted at an unknown location, officers located the victim.

"We immediately put the necessary resources in place and our officers worked effectively and quickly in order to find him and detain those responsible.

"While the nature of this horrific crime will undoubtedly shock the local community I would like to reassure people that our response and investigation was immediate, robust and effective.

"In conjunction with our partner agencies, we will always work tirelessly to protect people from harm and ensure offenders are held accountable for their actions through the criminal justice system.

"This was a large scale investigation during which every single officer involved played their part in securing the convictions."

Titley was jailed for 13 years and four months for conspiracy to commit GBH with intent and given five years to be served concurrently for false imprisonment.

Butler, of no fixed abode, was locked up for 13 years and four months and Smith, of Telford, received 10 years.

Mansell, of Telford, was jailed for 12 years, of which he will have to serve two-thirds before being considered for parole.

He was also given a four-year extended licence as he was already on licence when he committed the crime

Doyle was jailed for 12 years, Bates got 10 years and the 17-year-old received four years detention.