Three men were jailed Friday, Feb. 10 for distributing anti-gay leaflets close to a central England mosque in Britain's first prosecution for hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Ihjaz Ali, 42, was jailed for two years, while Kabir Ahmed, 28, and Razwan Javed, 27, were sentenced to 15 months each in a case brought under new anti-discrimination legislation introduced in 2010.

It makes it a crime to incite hatred based on sexual orientation.

All three were found guilty of handing out pamphlets in July 2010 calling for homosexuals to face the death penalty, distributing them close to the Jamia Mosque in the central England city of Derby, 130 miles (210 kilometers) from London.

Judge John Burgess said their “intention was to do great harm in a peaceful community.”