A CRUEL pair who tortured and humiliated a vulnerable man while taking sick pleasure in their abuse have both been jailed.

Casey Govan and Billy Nugent forced the man to strip naked and punched him while making vile threats and insults before then making him sit in a cold-water bath.

The victim was branded a ‘paedophile' and a 'rapist’ by Govan after she turned on him after they had spent the night drinking and taking drugs, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Dr Christopher Wood, prosecuting, said the victim had been left traumatised by what happened to him in Govan’s Stockton home on December 30, 2019.

He told the judge how the victim, who has special educational needs and autism, was preyed on by the defendants after Govan accused him of taking advantage of her when she stayed at his home three months earlier – something that never happened.

Dr Wood said the abuse and taunting was recorded on Govan's mobile phone.

"He was told that is he didn't lay down in the bath, he would be put under the bath," he added. "The defendants retired to the bedroom and the victim could hear them discussing what they would do to him if he dared to move.

"He heard them discussing using a cable to tie him but then they both fell asleep one hour and thirty minutes later."

Dr Wood said the victim managed to escape the house, dressed only in a towel, and the police were alerted.

In a victim impact statement, he said: "This has changed my whole life – I feel permanently stressed and anxious. My mental health has deteriorated, I can't function and I can't work."

Govan, 35, now of HMP Low Newton, and 30-year-old Nugent, of Mount Pleasant Grange, Stockton, both pleaded guilty to affray.

Aisha Wadoodi, representing Govan, said her client 'perceived' that something had happened previously and it 'didn't come out of nowhere'.

Nigel Soppitt, representing Nugent, said his client had made changes to his life since the incident more than two years ago.

Judge Chris Smith sentenced them both to 18 months in custody.

"The pair of you threatened and intimidated the victim," he said. "For some perceived injustice, you Casey Govan, set about, with the help of your co-defendant Billy Nugent, in terrifying that young man.

"Over the course of more than an hour, you made offensive and sinister remarks towards him."

The judge added: "You demanded that he remove his clothing and I have watched a video, in which you Casey Govan, can be seen and heard mocking and threatening him while he is naked, clearly and visibly distressed.

"But that wasn't enough, the pair of made sure he was put in a bath filled with cold water and the pair of you can be heard discussing sinister threats.

"No doubt, in terror, he had to wait until you were both asleep before he fled the property in nothing but a towel."

They were also both issued with a five-year restraining order.

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