A MOSQUE chairman and a voluntary worker have been jailed after trying to frame a mother and her two daughters for a firebomb attack they did not commit.

A court was told how Mosque leader Jangeer Ahmed, 35, and Javid Khan, 33, arranged for Khan's home to be petrol bombed and then told police sisters Naira and Shahnaz Sardar and their mother Taj were responsible.

Today the sisters said the incident had ruined their lives and one of them is still being treated for depression.

The court was told they had been woken from their beds in the middle of the night and then taken to a police station on suspicion of arson and locked up for 16 hours.

Naira, 22, Shahnaz, 30, and Taj, 55, were arrested at the family's former home in Malham Gardens, Blackburn, after Ahmed and Khan made police statements declaring their version of events was true.

But pictures of the two men noting one of the women's car registration numbers was captured earlier on CCTV.

The court had been told how Naira Sardar and her husband Sajid Ali split up and she went back to live with her family at Malham Gardens. Mr Ali went to live in Cherry Street with Khan.

Judge Christopher Cornwall sentenced Ahmed, chairman of Chester Street Mosque, Blackburn, and Khan to prison for six months but said he thought the sentences he was passing were too low.

He said the pair had been described as men of honour, trustworthy, loyal, responsible, decent, caring and hard working. Their characters had been supported by impressive references, including one for Ahmed from Lord Patel.

Speaking from their new home in Higher Audley Street, Blackburn, Naira said today: "This has been the worst experience of my life. Over ten police officers turned up at our house in the early hours to arrest us.

"Our mother was so shocked she had to sit down. She has lived in this country for 37 years and I was born here and lived here all my life. We have never known anything like this."

Shahnaz said: "I had to leave my one-year-old baby son with a neighbour and and was kept in custody for sixteen hours without being able to feed him.

"I was very distressed at being separated from him and have been treated for depression ever since.

"I was in shock for a long time afterwards.

"How can a man that claims to be chairman of a mosque bring shame on our community in this way? "

Judge Cornwall told the court Khan and Ahmed had made a terrible agreement to have the three women arrested and falsely imprisoned.

He said they had carefully planned a "grave crime" which included throwing a milk bottle with a rag and petrol through Khan's front door.

It caught light but the blaze was soon put out. The judge said they also went as far as to note a car number to give credence to their false claims.

Judge Cornwall went on: "I want the community to understand and to have no doubt about the fact the Sardar family is absolutely innocent of any wrong doing.

"It would be wholly and totally wrong for somebody to hold against them the fact that they were maliciously and falsely accused of offences they did not commit."

Khan, of Cherry Street, and Ahmed, of Acacia Walk, both Blackburn, admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Iain Simpkin, defending Ahmed, a former Accrington taxi driver.was genuinely sorry for what he had done.

Audley councillor Tahir Mahmood said: "It caused a lot of surprise when Jangeer Ahmed was arrested because he is the chairman of the mosque.

"You don't expect him to do that. From what I know of him, he always seemed a good lad and hopefully he has learned his lesson as a result."

Ibrahim Masters, chairman of the Blackburn Council of Mosques, declined to comment today.