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Two men have been branded 'Neanderthals' for pooing in a Nando's box and chucking it on a train - hitting a woman coming back from a funeral.

Bobby Clifford and Toby Clarke were part of a group of friends travelling back from Bath after watching England crash out of the World Cup.

They turned the rail journey into hell for the other passengers, making lewd comments and racing down the overhead luggage racks.

They were also baring their buttocks and spitting, a court heard.

The worst behaviour was that of Clarke and Clifford, both 22, who appeared at Swindon Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday, October 23).

Sales director Clarke dropped his trousers and defecated into a takeaway chicken box.

Clifford, a factory manager, chucked the box down the carriage, hitting a woman - believed to be in her 20s - who was on the way back from a family funeral.

She felt something wet on the back of her head, noticed the tell-tale smell and spotted a clump of excrement on the seat beside her.

Shockingly, the woman had a further two hours to travel on the train before she reached her destination.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Peter Crabtree said he had no doubt the offences were so serious they justified a prison sentence.

He said: “You are both intelligent young men, employed in important and responsible positions.

''That makes what you did that night even more inexplicable.

"Your behaviour was rather more 12th century than 21st century."

The judge then added he feared he was doing a discourtesy to those who lived 800-years-ago.

Clifford was told: “You may not have intended to hit anyone, but as a matter of common sense there must have been a real risk faeces from that box would have hit someone or part of the train.”

The judge sentenced Clifford to six months imprisonment suspended for a year.

He must complete 10 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours of unpaid work. He will pay £1,300 in compensation 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 £1,600 compensation and £510 costs.

The court heard that the pair had spent part of the day drinking with a group of men on July 11, 2018, some of whom were known to them and others who were older.

By 10pm, having watched England crash out of the World Cup to Croatia, they were back at the train station in Bath.

The group had to be spoken to about their behaviour by police and station staff after some of the men decided to lob objects around the platform.

But most of the men were still allowed to board the busy 10.26pm service towards Chippenham, Wiltshire, - and chaos ensued.

Clarke and a friend then began a loud conversation about molesting a girl known to them in a nightclub - heard by four other passengers.

When a woman on the train complained to the group about their loutish behaviour she was called “piggy”, “speccy” and asked to bare her breasts.

The woman’s ordeal lasted several minutes but was said to have felt like hours.

Their behaviour then escalated, culminating in the poo-chucking episode.

In the wake of the incident a number of people were arrested by police.

During the course of that investigation officers found a photograph said to show the excrement.

Interviewed by police, Clarke initially answered no comment.

But after a short break he admitted the offence, claiming he had been desperate to go to the toilet.

He said had been egged on by a friend, who said: “I dare you, I dare you”. He expressed remorse.

At first, Clifford denied being the one to throw the faeces but later acknowledged it was him.

Clarke, of Whaddon, Wiltshire, and Clifford, of Chippenham, both previously pleaded guilty at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on February 13 to a charge of outraging public decency.

David Maunder, for Clarke, said: “He is absolutely horrified by his own behaviour. He completely understands the disgust and revulsion any on that train will have felt for him and others he was with.”

He said Clarke was a man of previous good character.

A talented footballer and rugby player in his youth, he now works as a sales director for the family firm – a luxury interior design company.

His job requires him to travel around the globe and his conviction could have an impact on his ability to obtain a US visa.

Alejandra Tascon, for Clifford, said her client was remorseful: “He accepts that he was irresponsible, stupid and let himself be led astray and that is completely out of character for Mr Clifford.”

The factory manager was entrusted with significant responsibility by his employer and had recently been sent to India to help set up a new franchise.

Clifford had one previous conviction for drink driving.

Both men had written letters of apology to the woman hit by the excrement.

In both cases it was suggested they had been encouraged by older, “cooler” men in their group.

Charges against five others had already been dismissed.

Those five are: Dominic Patten, 22, of Chestnut Road, Chippenham; Josh Dolman, 27, of William Street, Calne; Edward McCormack, 25, of Waters Edge, Chippenham; Alistair Ellis, 25, of Flowers Yard, Chippenham; and Andrew McCabe, 27, of Drake Crescent, Chippenham.

Patten has since admitted two counts of battery and one count of endangering the safety of a person conveyed on a railway by throwing a bin lid and beer can onto a train.

He was sentenced at Swindon Magistrates' Court in September to a three-month curfew.

Got a view on this or another local news story? Email richard.mills@reachplc.com.

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