A RAPIST has been jailed indefinitely for carrying out a “sustained and sadistic”

attack on a man.

Stuart Whitehead, aged 23, beat and raped a 31-year-old man in a flat in Wyresdale Road, Heaton, because he believed the victim had been aggressive towards his twin brother, Scott, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Whitehead and his younger brother, Sean Bailey, aged 19, both of Cromwell Grove, Levenshulme, had previously admitted false imprisonment and assault. Both had denied rape, but Whitehead was found guilty.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was terrified and believed he was going to die as Whitehead beat and raped him, the court heard. A statement read to the court by prosecutor, Geoff Whelan, said the man was humiliated because photographs were taken of him, and he found giving evidence twice intrusive — the jury in the first trial was unable to reach a verdict.

The victim was forced to strip naked and bound with tape, before being punched, kicked, stamped on and raped in an ordeal that lasted four hours.

Nicola Gatto, defending Whitehead, said her client was beaten, starved, forced to urinate in a bucket and locked in a room as a child.

He spent years in care and was said to have made suicide attempts.

Judge Elliot Knopf, sentencing, said: “You subjected him to what can only be described as a sustained, sadistic attack over the course of a number of hours during which he was detained.

“He was forced to strip naked and during the evening someone had the idea of taking photos on Bailey’s phone. One of those photos is you standing, looming over the victim while stripped to your waist.

“He was stripped, bound in a foetal position cowering from you.

“The assault can be described as disgusting, nasty and vicious. He was bound, gagged and thought he was going to die.”

Whitehead was jailed indefinitely for public protection and must serve a minimum of four years before being eligible for parole.

Bailey was jailed for three-anda- half years in July.

Det Con Adam Gleave, from Bolton CID, thanked the victim for his courage.

He said: “This was a difficult case to investigate, but had it not been for the victim’s stoic determination that these men be held to account for their actions then convictions might not have been gained.”