A TERRIFIED teenager was stripped to his underwear and then had the tip of a finger chopped off with wire cutters by a man who thought he had stolen his motorbike.

Derek Gaskell was dumped in a remote Westhoughton lane in just his boxer shorts with blood pouring from the wound and the amputated fingertip was never recovered.

The grisly revenge was exacted by Jamie Casperelli, who was convinced Gaskell had been involved in the theft of his prized motorcycle.

Yesterday Casperelli, aged 31, formerly of Boydells house, Hindley Green, Wigan, and now of Greenwood Road, Wythenshawe, appeared at Bolton Crown Court.

He had earlier admitted causing grievous bodily harm to Derek Gaskell with intent on January 24.

Prosecutor Simon Temple said Casperelli came home to find his prized motorbike, a gift from his wife worth £2,500, had been stolen from his back yard.

He saw some youths dismantling the bike in a nearby field but they ran off when they saw him approaching.

He made inquiries around the area and went to Gaskell's house and made him accompany him on a journey to visit other homes to try to find the culprits.

He was taken in an old ambulance, driven by a friend, who did not know what was planned, to a remote area off Colliery Lane in Westhoughton.

He took Gaskell away from the van and made him strip to his underwear. He took a pair of wire cutters and snipped the end of Gaskell's finger from his right hand.

He then left Gaskell there to make his own way home. Casperelli told police that he initially intended to take Gaskell's socks and shoes and make him walk home barefoot.

The court was told that Casperelli hailed from the North-east but had left the area to start afresh after his partner and son were killed by a drunk driver.

He had met his wife in the Wigan area and she had bought him a £2,500 motorcycle which he treasured. When the bike was stolen her son's quad bike was also vandalised.

Judge Bruce Macmillan said he accepted there was an element of provocation but Gaskell had been left in agony and would have a permanent reminder of what happened.

He said if everyone took the law into their own hands then society would rapidly descend into anarchy. He jailed him for three and-a-half years.

The area where they lived was prone to petty thieving and vandalism and in Casperelli's opinion the police didn't always react quick enough.

His intentions were to take Gaskell down that lane with the wire cutters and tell him that if he ever stole from him again he would cut his fingers off.

As he walked away Gaskell allegedly made a disparaging remark and Casperelli lost all sense of reason and cut the fingertip off using the wire cutters.