A worshipper who tried to fire a gun at a gang who attacked him during a mosque prayer meeting has been jailed for four years.

Judge Anthony Thorpe said there was "public fear over an increasing use of firearms".

At Chichester Crown Court, Judge Thorpe jailed Amir Khan, 27, for intending to cause fear of violence at the mosque in Pelham Road, Crawley.

A jury last month unanimously convicted Khan, of Ladypool Road, Birmingham, with possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear.

Judge Thorpe said: "It was a lethal firearm. It was loaded and I find that you knew it was loaded. It was a frightening and disgraceful thing to do in a place of worship on a holy day, whatever your motive was.

"I do, however, accept that this has nothing to do with terrorism and I make no findings as to how that gun came to be in the mosque in the first place."

Earlier in the trial, the court heard from Irshad Sheikh, prosecuting, that Khan pulled the gun from the waist band of his trousers, aimed it an an elder from the mosque and pulled the trigger before he was bundled to the ground.

No one at the mosque was hurt because the semi-automatic pistol jammed during the incident in June last year, the court heard.

During the trial it was alleged that the attack on Mr Khan revolved around allegations that a married woman within the local Muslim community had been having an affair.

Towards the end of the prayer meeting, worshippers heard a fracas in the hall of the mosque, Mr Sheikh said.

One worshipper, Ikhlaq Rafiq, left to see what was going on. He saw three men beating another man. One was using a belt.

With the help of others, Mr Rafiq pushed those involved outside into a car park. At this stage, the court heard, Mr Rafiq saw Khan pull the gun from his trousers and aim it at the group who had been attacking him.

Police intervened and arrested Khan. A ballistics expert who examined the gun said it had been modified to fire ball bearings.

In police interview, Khan denied he had taken the gun into the mosque. He claimed the gun was produced by another man and that he prised it from him.