Two men have been sentenced for a vile incident on a train which resulted in a passenger being hit with human faeces, following a British Transport Police investigation.

Toby Clarke, 22, and of The Old Rectory Whaddon, Hilperton and Bobby Clifford, 22, and of St Peters Close, Chippenham, both pleaded guilty to outraging public decency at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on February 13.

Yesterday, a Judge sentenced them both at Swindon Crown Court.

The pair were part of a larger group of 12 young men travelling from Bath Spa to Chippenham following England’s World Cup 2018 semi-final defeat to Croatia on 11 July last year.

The court heard the intoxicated group were behaving rowdily at Bath Spa station, with one, Dominic Patten, throwing a bin lid and his beer can on the track.

They boarded the 10.26pm train and were seen to be drinking heavily, having loud sexually explicit conversations and crawling in the overhead carriage. A female passenger who challenged their behaviour was met with a torrent of abusive language.

The incident, which lasted a period of around 20 minutes, culminated in Clarke pulling down his trousers and defecating in a takeaway box in view of other passengers.

Clifford then picked up the box containing the faeces and threw it down the carriage, causing some of the contents to land on a traumatised passenger.

Most of the group then alighted the train at Chippenham, leaving passengers horrified by the incident.

Following an investigation by British Transport Police, Clarke, Clifford, and Patten were arrested by officers at British Transport Police.

Yesterday, Clifford was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for a year. He must complete 10 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours of unpaid work, as well as paying £1,000 to the victim who was hit with the faeces, £100 to each of the three witnesses and £510 in costs.

Clarke was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a requirement to complete 280 hours of unpaid work. He must pay £400 compensation to each of the witnesses and £510 costs.

Dominic Patten, 22, admitted two counts of battery and one count of endangering the safety of a person conveyed on a railway, and he was sentenced at Swindon Magistrates' Court in September to a three-month curfew.

Inspector Scott Hargreave from British Transport Police, said: “The individuals involved in this incident are very fortunate that they aren’t facing an immediate custodial sentence - their actions and behaviours were reprehensible.

“I would like to reassure the travelling public that incidents like this are rare - any incident of which we are made aware of, we will police and investigate robustly.

“I hope this sends a clear warning to everyone that this type of disgusting behaviour will not be tolerated on the railway, and these offenders will be brought before the courts.”