Two Islamic teachers who beat their 10-year-old pupil with a plastic rod have been jailed for a year.

Father and son Mohammed Siddique and Mohammed Waqar, from Birmingham, disciplined the boy for failing to recite the Qur'an in religious classes.

Birmingham Crown court sentenced the men after a last minute guilty plea of wilful cruelty.

Judge Mark Wall QC concluded "it would not be right" to suspend the prison term after hearing they each beat the boy on two occasions and he suffered extensive bruising.

He said such brutality could not be tolerated.

He added: "This is not a case where you each overreacted only once to provocation, neither is it a case in which you misunderstood what constitutes proper punishment and therefore requires some guidance from probation services as to where that boundary lies.

"Added to that, there must be no mistake about the message taken from this case. Acts of brutality of this sort which you each indulged in, with a stick, will not be tolerated."

Photographs of the victim's injuries include extensive bruising to the back of his legs. The boy also said Waqar called him names in class.

The father and son punished the boy for talking in class and failing to recite the Qur'an at Sparkbrook Islamic centre, Jamia Mosque, in Birmingham.

Sam Forsyth, prosecutor, said the abuse came to light after the boy told a school mentor.

Forsyth said: "He describes how this has had a great effect on him, causing him to lose hair as he was getting very stressed. When he was bruised he would try and hide them with clothing even in very hot weather and make excuses not to go to the centre, such as having tummy ache. He would get very upset about small things."

Judge Wall told the men: "The use of a weapon with which to hit a 10-year-old is, and was known by you both, to be wholly unacceptable in this day and age."

He added: "You each assaulted him twice, once each by slapping him with your hands, and once each by hitting him with what has been described as a plastic stick. In all, you're responsible for four separate assaults on him. These assaults would follow on from him talking in class or failing to read the Qur'an accurately.

"These assaults were committed by you in breach of a significant degree of trust placed in you by his parents and those who run the school. That you each assaulted him twice, in similar ways, leads me to conclude that between you, you must have decided this was an appropriate way to act towards recalcitrant children.

"These were not assaults committed in ignorance of how inappropriate it was to use corporal punishment such as this."

The judge praised the boy's courage in coming forward.

The defendants' barrister, Chanranjit Jutla, said both men were of good character and regretted their conduct.

A restraining order has been placed on both men banning them from contact with the victim. Wall said he had no doubt they would be barred from further teaching by relevant authorities.