Devout: Syed Mustafa Zaidi was found guilty of two charges of child cruelty

A Muslim man who ordered two boys to flog themselves in a traditional religious ceremony has been convicted of child cruelty.

In a British legal first, Syed Zaidi faces up to ten years in prison for forcing the teenagers to whip themselves using a bundle of chains with sharp curved blades attached.

The device, called a zanjeer, has been used for centuries by Shia Muslim men and boys to mourn the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson.

However, in this country it is illegal for under-16s to use it on themselves.

Zaidi, a 44-year-old warehouse supervisor, was filmed at the ceremony in Manchester lashing himself with the bladed whip until his bare back was covered in blood.

Onlookers said the devout Muslim was flagellating himself with such fervour that they were forced to intervene and make him stop.

At this point, he handed the zanjeer to a 15- year-old boy and told him to use it.

The teenager whipped his back with it before community members again intervened.

Then, witnesses said, Zaidi grabbed a 13-year-old boy by the arm, pulled off his T-shirt and made him flog himself as well.

Both boys later needed hospital treatment for deep cuts to their backs.

Pakistani-born Zaidi and the other worshippers had been warned beforehand that it was illegal for under-16s to take part.

At Manchester Crown Court a jury took just two-and-a-half hours to convict him on two counts of child cruelty. It is the first prosecution of its kind.

Police have investigated previous claims that youngsters have been forced to flog themselves, but none has gone to court.

The boys gave evidence at Zaidi's trial that they had both taken part in the ritual – known as zanjeer zani – in Pakistan since the age of six. However, they said they had not wanted to whip themselves that day.

The younger boy said that Zaidi had told him: 'Start doing it, start doing it!'.

He added: 'We said, "We don't want to do it".'

He said that Zaidi gave his zanjeer to the older boy, and when the teenager wouldn't flog himself, he told onlookers: 'This is a sad moment'.

The younger boy added: 'He kept pressuring him to make him do the knife thing, pulling him, trying to get his T-shirt off, pulling and pushing him. He was saying, "Just do it, just do it".'

Zaidi admitted he had allowed the boys to use his zanjeer, saying: 'This is a part of our religion.'

The zanjeer zani, a five-bladed whip, which the boys used to beat themselves

He insisted: 'It was an emotional time and the children were happy, they asked for it. No one forced anyone.'

Zaidi said he had been flogging himself since the age of seven.

At his trial, the jury were shown a 20-minute video of the ritual, which took place at a community centre in Levenshulme, Manchester, on January 19 this year.

Around 150 worshippers were shown chanting and cheering as a number of men – including Zaidi – stripped to the waist and rhythmically flogged themselves until their backs were covered in blood.

One man with a bloodied back was shown slumped against a wall, sobbing.

Three other boys, the youngest aged about 11, flogged themselves with zanjeers specially designed to be used by children.

Zaidi, of Eccles, Salford, remained impassive as the verdicts were read out.

He has been given bail while awaiting sentencing. He faces a maximum ten-year prison sentence when he returns to court, although he may escape a jail term altogether.

The case has focused attention on the bloody ritual, which is performed every year by a minority of Shia Muslim men in British cities such as Birmingham, Bradford and Sheffield.

Boys also take part in what is known as the mourning of Muharram, after the first month of the Islamic calendar.

This is illegal in Britain, but charges are not brought if the boys say they were voluntarily expressing their religious feelings.

After Zaidi was convicted, police and prosecutors thanked the local Shia Muslim community for their help in the case and stressed it had not been an attack on the practice of zanjeer zani.

Carol Jackson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'The law exists to protect the young from harm or being exposed to harm.

'In this case, both boys were made to take part in the ritual flagellation and suffered injuries to their backs. This is a very unusual case and the first of its kind to be prosecuted by the CPS in England and Wales.'

At Zaidi's trial, prosecutor Andrew Nuttall said what was permissible in Pakistan was not necessarily permissible in Britain.

'In this country the laws are very different from those in Pakistan,' he added. 'If you want children to perform this act, then take them to Pakistan.'

As far as allowing young people to take part, he said, 'a line has to be drawn in the sand, and that line is 16'.

After the verdict, Shia community leaders said they would produce a code of conduct for future ceremonies.

Safdar Zia of the Jaffria Islamic Centre said: 'We have to take into account people's beliefs and their rights, and we will respect them. But we are not above the law.'