A GANG who tortured two men for four hours using a knife and a hot iron before leaving them in the boot of a car are facing a lengthy prison sentence.

The five men have been found guilty of tying and taping up their victims and trying to extort money from them after they had been lured to a Brighton flat.

One of the attacked men has still not recovered full mobility in the use of his arm after being stabbed while he also suffered iron burns to his feet.

The alarm was raised by neighbours who heard the victims’ shouts for help during what Sussex Police detectives have described as a “horrific ordeal”.

Samuel Tando, 27, of Croydon, William Ben-Sellem, 24, of Brighton, Alexander Pululu, 31, of Orpington, Ashraf Abdullah, 28, of Hove and Martin Maloney, 41, of Brighton were charged with false imprisonment, robbery, grievous bodily harm with intent, possession of a firearm and making threats to kill.

They all pleaded not guilty to the offences but Tando, Ben-Sellem and Pululu were found guilty of all the charges, except possessing a firearm, after a five-week trial at Southwark in August

The jury could not reach a verdict on Abdullah and Maloney but following a retrial, the pair were found guilty yesterday though Maloney was found not guilty of making threats to kill.

Police received 999 calls from people living in flats at Barclay House in Wellington Road at 10.20pm on October 6, 2015.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found two victims with their hands and feet bound with one still in the boot of a car in the car park and the other sitting on the ground nearby.

The 24-year-old victim suffered a stab wound to the arm and burns to his feet as well as receiving wounds to his face and head.

The other victim aged 21 suffered minor injuries to his head and wrist.

Their attackers used the 24-year-old’s car to drive to his flat, and steal his cash before returning to the flat in Barclay House, bundling the pair down the stairs and into the boot of the car at knifepoint.

The five men were remanded in custody and will be sentenced in April.

DI Andy Wolstenholme said: “This has been an incredibly complex investigation.

“Without the support we received from partners and the public, we would not have been able to bring the case to court and ensure these dangerous men are imprisoned.”