A CHILLING video of a man being held hostage with a knife pointing in his face was shown in court yesterday as two Polish immigrants were jailed and told they face deportation.

Tearful victim Daniel Appleby, from Darlington, was seen cowering on the ground pleading for his life during the terrifying ordeal, which it is thought lasted about 40 minutes.

The 21-year-old had a knife pointed at his eyeball and thrust into the wall beside him by Martin Sosna as his friend Lukas Bazelak filmed on his mobile phone camera.

Bazelak, 22, and his 33-year-old brother Arkadiusz were yesterday jailed for their part in the attack at the home they shared with Sosna in Lansdowne Street, Darlington.

Sosna, 21, committed suicide while he was on remand at Holme House Prison in Stockton facing charges of false imprisonment, making threats to kill and robbery.

Arkadiusz Bazelak was jailed for four years after he admitted robbery, and his younger brother was locked up for two years after he pleaded guilty to false imprisonment.

Judge Les Spittle said Lukas Bazelak - who can be heard laughing during the recording - had incited and possibly prolonged Mr Appleby's ordeal by filming it.

Sosna was dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts as he threatened Mr Appleby at knife-point and forced him to hand over his bank card and PIN number.

Arkadiusz Bazelak went to a cash-point and withdrew money while Sosna discussed in Polish how they should dispose of Mr Appleby's body once they had killed him.

At several points during the recording, drug-dealer Sosna can be heard screaming "die, die, die" as he slams the knife into the wall near Mr Appleby's head.

Mr Appleby, a steeplejack, managed to flee from the house and find a nearby police car when another friend arrived at the party and left the kitchen door open.

An armed police team swooped on the property and arrested the three Poles, and later found the mobile phone containing the nine-minute film hidden in the loft.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday that the three Poles, Mr Appleby and another friend had been drinking heavily at a party and returned to the house to carry on.

Evidence showed cash was withdrawn from the hole-in-the-wall - a five- to ten-minute walk away - at 2.34am, while the time on a kitchen clock captured at the end of the recording was 3.10am.

It is not known what prompted the outburst of violence, but last night detectives said Mr Appleby was left traumatised by what had happened on January 7 this year.

Detective Constable David Ripley, of Darlington CID, said: "They all knew each other through a third party and had met each other on that night because they had been to a party.

"They had all been drinking a lot but we have no idea why things turned sour, but we have seen from the footage that there were some terrifying moments.

"At one point, the victim is basically pleading for his life and on many occasions he is threatened that he will be killed and there is talk about how the body will be disposed of.

"This has had an absolutely horrendous impact on the victim, but he is just trying to get on with his life and is trying his best to rebuild his life."

Judge Spittle made a recommendation to the Home Office that the brothers should be deported once they have completed their sentences.