A TERRIFIED night porter was held prisoner and brutally tortured during a raid at a Farnham hotel, a court was told.

Victim Brian Hooper, 42, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was slapped and beaten around the head, burnt on the arm with a cigarette and had three staples driven into his right index finger.

He was finally left blindfolded and tied to a chair as a four-man gang made off with cigarettes, alcohol and staff tips totalling just over £2,000 from The Farnham House Hotel on December 8 last year.

Mr Hooper's horrifying ordeal was revealed at Guildford Crown Court last Friday when Jamie Newman, 32, of York Road, Old Dean, Camberley, was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to robbery.

The court heard he denied any involvement in the torture but refused to tell police who else was involved in the raid.

Martin Rutherford, prosecuting, said that at around 4 am Mr Hooper went to investigate a noise in the bar and was confronted by a balaclava-clad man.

"This man shouted at Mr Hooper to get to the floor. When he did this too slowly he was pushed to the floor and his glasses were removed.

"His assailant continued to demand the keys to the safe but Mr Hooper did not have the keys and couldn't give them to him. His hands were tied behind his back using plastic cable ties and he was blindfolded with a black balaclava over his head."

Mr Hooper was taken into an office where three other men were present. One of them repeatedly shouted at him: "Where are the safe keys?"

Mr Rutherford said: "Mr Hooper believed he was held captive for about two hours and he was slapped and beaten around the head, his arm was burnt with a cigarette and three staples were stapled into his right index finger.

"He was terrified because he didn't know where the safe keys were and he didn't know what would happen to him.

"Mr Hooper was tied to a chair before the men made off. He managed some time later to call the police. The police found him still tied up, still blindfolded and still terrified."

Mr Rutherford told the court that Newman was traced through DNA on a glass and cigarette butt found at the scene.

In two police interviews he made no comment and would not tell police who else was involved in the raid.

The court heard that about two months before the raid Newman had appeared before Staines magistrates for drink driving and had a number of previous convictions but none similar to the robbery.

Martin Fox, defending, said: "The defendant is a man who at that time had a severe drink problem. He could not pay for it and got into debt borrowing from friends.

"The day before the robbery he went down the pub as usual and drank heavily all day, then returned to his bedsit where he drank more. In the early hours he was picked up by the three other men and driven to the hotel. The defendant knew the leader but the other two were strangers to him."

Newman claimed he did not know anyone would be on the premises and that he was told to sit in the van outside and then load stolen items.

Mr Fox said Newman waited some time but was then told to come inside to help with the cigarette machine which had been prised off the wall.

"It was at this point he saw the hooded man in the chair, a sight he had not been expecting. He became fearful and realised he was out of his depth. He accepts he was guilty of robbery but he did not take part in the torture of Mr Hooper.

"His DNA ended up on a glass at the scene because he was so shocked by what he saw when he eventually entered the hotel that he had a drink and cigarette to steady his nerves. The man who recruited him he believed to be a man of violence and a man to be feared."

Passing sentence, Judge Michael Addison told Newman: "It has been said you at first thought this was a burglary and you were only driving the vehicle and were not inside the premises when Mr Hooper was subjected to severe ill-treatment.

"Therefore I must sentence you based on those facts, but this offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified."