Ihjaz Ali, Kabir Ahmed and Razwan Javed were first to be convicted of stirring up hatred on grounds of sexual orientation

Three men have been jailed after becoming the first to be convicted of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation for handing out a leaflet calling for gay people to be executed.

Ihjaz Ali, Kabir Ahmed and Razwan Javed gave out the pamphlet, entitled The Death Penalty?, which showed an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose and quoted Islamic texts that said capital punishment was the only way to rid society of homosexuality.

Ali was jailed for two years and Ahmed and Javed for 15 months each.

Following a trial at Derby crown court last month, they were convicted by a jury of distributing threatening written material intending to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation ? the first prosecution of its kind since legislation came into force in March 2010.

Two other men, Mehboob Hussain and Umar Javed, who were also charged with the same offence, were found not guilty.