A man in eastern Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to three years in jail for engaging in “immoral acts” with other men.

According to Gulfunews, the man was apprehended by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice after he sent naked pictures and offered to have sex with other men.

“Offensive” pictures and chat messages were also found on his mobile.

The court in the port city Dammam sentenced him to three years and ordered a fine of SR100,000 (£16,800).

Saudi Arabia operates a system of Shari’ah law and punishes homosexuality with sentences of corporal and capital punishment.

In 2010, Saudi prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison for murdering his assistant, Bandar Abdulaziz, in a luxury London hotel. The court heard the attack had a “sexual” element and that the prince had used male escorts in the past.

In early 2011, Stephen Comiskey, a 36-year-old British man, was arrested and beaten in Saudi Arabia by religious police when they discovered he was gay.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also reportedly banned gays and tomboys from its schools citing efforts to tackle the two ‘phenomena’.