A 17-year-old student was burned with a home-made flame thrower during a horrifying four-hour torture ordeal, a court heard.

Aerosol cans of air freshener and furniture polish were squirted at Katy James and the jets set alight with a naked flame. She was attacked by a gang of teenagers at the flat they shared in Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove, after her smoking was blamed for Hayley Kirby's miscarriage.

Her hair was set alight and she had to beat out the flames with her bare hands. Perfume was sprayed onto her stomach and also set on fire.

She was battered with a chair until its leg broke, punched, kicked and forced to drink a cocktail of coca-cola, cigarette ends and urine while her tormentors laughed, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Miss James, a vulnerable girl with learning problems, was lured home on March 23 where she was attacked by Kirby, her boyfriend Robert Hart, Wynette Darkes and her boyfriend James Smale. Kirby claimed that on that day she was told by a hospital that smoke in her body' had caused her to lose the child, said Nicolas Cartwright, prosecuting. The gang all pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and conspiring to pervert the course of justice in a cover-up to police. Judge Alistair McCreath said it was "unspeakable and wicked behaviour". He gave Hart, 18, and 17-year-old Smale indeterminate sentences for public protection. They must serve at least three years and three months in custody before they are considered for release by the parole board. Kirby, also 18, and Darkes, 17, now of Lion Street, Kidderminster, were each given six and half years detention.

The violence was begun by Kirby who slapped Miss James, called her a whore and branded her a murderer.

Smale also accused her of taking his dad away from him because Miss James was having a romance with 49-year-old Christopher Smale.

Miss James, who was on a life skills course at North East Worcestershire college in Redditch, had a soiled nappy pushed in her face.

Cigarettes were also stubbed out on her body and she was forced to eat chilli peppers and chilli powder - and drink her own vomit.

She was photographed on a mobile phone, had a knife held at her throat- and was even urinated on.

Around 10pm the gang realised her boyfriend was about to return home and walked the victim to a chip shop.

They tried to clean her up and concocted a story that they found her being attacked by a youth in a churchyard. Her boyfriend, shocked by what he found when he returned from a factory shift, called the police.

Her injuries included a broken nose, perforated eardrum, a six-inch burn on her stomach and other burns on her ears, face and private parts.

Mr Cartwright said: "She was subjected to a terrifying and humiliating ordeal, involving extreme acts of violence and degradation.

"This was a joint enterprise in which each defendant should face equal responsibility for all the injuries and indignities inflicted on the victim."

Mary Loram, for Kirby, said she did suffer a miscarriage, but could not explain the events afterwards.

Robert Jackson, for Hart, said: "Young people in groups are prone to acts which astonish all members of civilised society."

Gary Cook, for Darkes, said: "The victim has a life sentence. Whatever the defendant gets, she deserves it."

And Abigail Nixon, for Smale, explained that he had a very disturbed early upbringing.