I turned pal into a real live Shrek

A joker who painted a drinking buddy green to make him look like Shrek was jailed for 27 months yesterday.

Kieran Jackson, 20, turned terrified Ernest Hothersall into the movie ogre as part of a drunken prank.

But the joke went too far when he punched his 26-year-old victim and forced him to strip naked, a court heard.

Jackson and another friend used electric clippers to shave Mr Hothersall's head and chest, then slapped paint on his head, arms, torso and genitals as he begged them to stop.

He eventually managed to flee and call an ambulance. It took him three days to remove the paint and left him humiliated and degraded, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Jackson admitted causing actual bodily harm and theft and was jailed after the judge, Mr Recorder Roger Farley QC, said the attack was 'disgusting behaviour'.

Jackson turned violent after drinking with Mr Hothersall at the home of their friend Steven Bostock, 29, in Bolton last July. Paul McDonald, prosecuting, said Jackson and Bostock forced the victim to put on a black dress as they took photos.

'Mr Hothersall was surprised at what his friends had done to him. It was the worst night of his life,' he added.

Bostock was jailed for 21 months at an earlier hearing after he admitted assault.