A man who whipped an Islamic convert 40 times under Sharia Law for drinking beer has been jailed for at least 16 months.

Magistrate Brian Maloney says three co-accused men were 'duped' by leader Wasim Fayed into thinking whipping a man was 'righteous'.

The three other men were given 18-month suspended sentences.

In sentencing, the magistrate said "You acted as a vigilante. The wider community should view your actions as yours alone and not representative of the Islamic faith".

He sentenced Fayed to a maximum of two years in jail.

In July 2011, Christian Martinez, 32, had recently converted to Islam but had gone out with friends and had consumed alcoholic drinks.

He woke up in the middle of the night to find four bearded men had broken into his Silverwater home.

Three men held him down while the fourth whipped him with an electric cord.

At the time, he told 7News that the attack was fundamental Wahhabist punishment for drinking alcohol, and that the welts he sustained were severe.

"I was screaming, absolutely screaming," Martinez said.

"I can't explain the pain. Horrific. I mean I don't wish it upon anybody."

Martinez's shoulders and abdomen were covered in welts and bruises after the forty lashes that were inflicted on him.

His religious mentor, Fayed, was charged with carrying out the whipping as punishment under sharia law.

Fayed was found guilty in February of charges of assault occasioning bodily harm in company and stealing.

In July 2011, Mr Martinez had called Fayed to confess taking illicit drugs and consuming alcohol. He said he consented to the punishment but then begged him to stop.

Fayed told him he was doing it because he loved him and and so he would remember the pain next time he thought about drinking alcohol.

After the punishment, the offenders discovered a hard drive used to store CCTV footage so removed it from the premises.

It's believed to be the first case in an Australian court relating to a punishment being carried out under Islamic law.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/latest/a/-/newshome/17602659/man-jailed-for-sharia-law-whipping/