A TRAINEE solicitor is behind bars today after he forged a witness statement about an assault on a heavily pregnant teenager.

Lancaster Crown Court heard how Imtiaz Adam forged the signature of the 17-year-old girl in April 2000 while working for Parker and Pickles, in Blackburn.

Sentencing the 29-year-old for perverting the course of justice, Judge Christopher Cornwall said he had "struck at the very heart of the system of justice and undermined the public's confidence in his profession".

Imtiaz Adam, of Preston New Road, Blackburn, was also given 18 months to run concurrently for forgery.

His brother Asif Adam, also of Preston New Road, was jailed for two and a half years for perverting the course of justice as he tried to save his brother's career "from going down the pan" in what the judge called misguided loyalty.

A third man, Sarfraz Khan, who assaulted the teenager, was sentenced to two years for the same offence. He was also given six months to run concurrently for intimidation.

The case was a retrial after the original sentence at Preston Crown Court last October was quashed by the Court of Appeal in London, in March this year.

A jury of eight men and four women took just over an hour to find the Adams brothers guilty.

Khan, of Pine Street, Darwen, pleaded guilty on the first day of the two-week trial.

The court heard 22-year-old Khan, slapped the teenage girl across the face in April 2000, while she was eight months pregnant.

When she complained to the police, Khan, described by Judge Cornwall as a "dangerous man", with no "qualms about attacking women", threatened to break her legs if she did not withdraw the statement.

Father-of-two Khan has a string of previous convictions including kidnapping in 1996 for which he was sent to a Young Offenders' Institution for 12 months.

He took her to see Imtiaz Adam at his Blackburn office at Parker and Pickles.

She was made to sign a blank retraction statement, which Imtiaz Adam then filled in.

But the court heard Imtiaz forgot to get the girl to sign under the Declaration of Truth on the form and instead forged her signature.

He was arrested in September 2000.

A month later Imtiaz Adam's 26-year-old brother Asif approached the teenager in a nightclub and spoke about the charges against both Khan and his brother.

The court was told the teenager was promised money if she dropped the charges and was taken to a solicitors in Manchester to sign another retraction statement.

Made aware by the police of Imtiaz Adam's arrest, the Manchester solicitors did not take the case.

The jury did not accept claims that the girl tried to blackmail the men for £2,000 in exchange for her dropping the case. Judge Cornwall said the men bought a mobile telephone using her name and address, which they used to make demands via text messages, written with "the foulest racial abuse."

Mr Cornwall said: "I am quite satisfied that no threats of blackmail were made at any time.

"It was a well thought-out strategy to try to discredit the girl in front of the jury."

Defending Imtiaz Adam, Keith Harrison said he was the "author of his own misfortune."

He had lost his home, career and was facing marital problems as a result of his actions.

He said: "The consequences for him are now extremely grave. He has lost his career, which is punishment in itself for him, and he has lost his good character which will haunt him for a long time to come."

After the sentence Detective Sergeant Paul Murphy, who led the inquiry, said: "This second conviction has been achieved by powerful and compelling evidence which the jury identified, disregarding the red herrings created by the defence to try to discredit the witness."