A father convicted of plotting an acid attack on his young son with five other men has been jailed for 16 years at Worcester Crown Court.

The 40-year-old from Wolverhampton but originally from Afghanistan - who cannot be named to protect the identity of his son - was unanimously convicted by a jury after nine hours of deliberations at Worcester Crown Court.

The boy's mother, in a victim impact statement read to court by prosecution barrister Will Martin, said when the father is released from jail she will be 'in greater danger than before'.

'He is the kind of person that honour matters everything to,' she said. 'I'll give an example. One day a long time ago, we were watching a video on YouTube - that was his hobby.

'We watched videos about a girl who was killed by her father. While watching I commented 'that's impossible how can a father kill his daughter?' He said 'his daughter must have done something wrong - that's our culture. They call it honour killing. This is the way of our culture.'' This is what he believes.'

Jurors convicted co-conspirators Adam Cech, Jan Dudi, Norbert Pulko, Jabar Paktia, and Saied Hussini of plotting to spray sulphuric acid on the boy with intent to harm.

The sickening attack was part of a plot in which the father hoped to make the boy's mother look incapable of caring for him in the hopes of halting her attempts to divorce him.

The other five men found guilty of conspiring to throw acid on the boy in what the judge called a 'shocking' attack were jailed for between 12 and 14 years.

Judge Robert Juckes QC, sentencing, told them they had carried out a 'monstrous' crime with 'obviously strong acid', probably from a car battery.

He said: 'It is an extraordinary thing in this case that not one of you, most of whom have no previous convictions, most of whom with families of your own, at any stage stood back and asked the question of yourself and others: 'what are we doing?''

Adam Cech (pictured, left) was one of the father's co-conspirators in a sickening attack on the youngster in Worcester and the court heard how Norbert Pulko (right) carried a bottle of acid in shocking footage captured on CCTV

Jan Dudi (right) and Saied Hussini (left) were also convicted for their part in the sickening attack on the youngster

The seventh defendant, Martina Badiova, 23, of Handsworth, Birmingham, was cleared of plotting an acid attack on a three-year-old boy.

The youngster suffered serious injuries to his face and arm at a Home Bargains store in Worcester last July.

In her victim impact statement the boy's mother said: 'On the awful day that my youngest child was attacked with acid I had no idea I was being followed.

'He came running over to me screaming and grabbing his arm, I could see there was an injury but didn't know how it had been caused.

'I became hysterical. I noticed that red marks then started to develop like a snake up his arm and then reddening to his forehead.'

She went on: 'Honestly, it never crossed my mind that it would be acid, when the police told me I was absolutely devastated, I couldn't sleep for weeks and I have repeat nightmares about what happened that day.

'It shocks me to think that people could be involved with doing this to a defenceless child and I'm glad that they have been brought to justice and will be punished for what they have done. I hope nobody ever has to go through what we have experienced.

'It has been extremely hard to accept that my three-year-old child has been attacked in such a way and that his father was behind this.

'How could he pay for someone to attack our child with acid? How will I explain this to my son? I don't think I will ever forgive any of those involved for what they have put my family through.'

Jabar Paktia, 42, (pictured, left) was also convicted over his involvement in the attack and the court heard how Norbert Pulko (right) carried a bottle of acid in the store

Nine security guards surrounded the defendants in the dock as the verdicts were read out.

When the father was giving evidence from the witness box, one of the other male defendants loudly and mockingly mimicked the 40-year-old's testimony, repeatedly saying: 'I never, I never.'

The father for his part denied any wrongdoing or ever having even met Pulko.

Pulko scoffed and shook his head on hearing that denial and jurors were shown CCTV of the pair meeting in a pub car park hours before the attack, with the father 'handing over acid' to his co-conspirator.

Later in the trial, Cech, who admitted throwing the substance, pointed the finger squarely at Pulko, claiming he had been threatened at gunpoint to carry out the attack.

As he testified to the claim, Pulko angrily got to his feet in the dock and walked down the steps leading to the cells. Pulko returned a few minutes later, glaring across the court at Cech.

The incident happened at this Home Bargains store in Worcester on July 21 last year

After giving evidence, Cech smirked, smiled to himself and looked at the ceiling as he waited to be led back down to the court cells, away from the others.

As the jury deliberated, the dock officers were concerned enough about the potential for trouble when the verdicts were read out that they asked Judge Robert Juckes QC for extra security.

He said: 'Should there be adverse verdicts, there have been concerns expressed by the prison officers because there's quite a lot of animosity between the defendants.

'That is to be expected where they have been running markedly cut-throat defences.'

'I suspect the defendants will listen to the verdicts and to what follows from that, whatever it might be, without any undue reaction. But if there is, I shall have to have them taken down and brought up in groups.'

This CCTV image captures footage of the sickening attack which left the youngster with injuries to his face and arm

The father bowed his head and covered his mouth with his hand in shock after he was found guilty of conspiracy to apply a corrosive fluid with intent to burn, maim, disable or disfigure the boy or do him grievous bodily harm.

Judge Juckes said: 'Everyone asked what on earth would lead a father to have acid sprayed upon his own son - what kind of people would carry out such an attack?

'I started this trial in the hope that I might gain some insight and some answer to this question, but I have not.'

Praising the prosecution and police case as 'thorough and overwhelming', he said every defendant had fought 'to the very end'.

He added the effect of their position was to render 'any apology' by the defendants in mitigation as 'virtually meaningless'.

During the trial, jurors heard the father, from Afghanistan, sent a message to a member of the gang after the attack on July 21 last year, saying: 'Nailed it!'

Prosecutors say the boy's father believed his wife had 'humiliated' him by leaving him and taking their kids.

Jan Dudi, 25, of Birmingham (left) was also convicted at Worcester Crown Court. Norbert Pulko, 22, pictured right, is from Slovakia but lives in London and was also an accomplice

He had been granted fortnightly visits to his children but he lodged an appeal to the court for greater access which his wife was against.

The court heard he hoped to show she was an unfit mother who could not protect her children.

Chillingly, the father had also asked an Imam if he was allowed to 'kill his wife and his children in accordance with the religion'.

Adam Cech, 27, left, was involved in an attack that meant a little boy suffere acid burns to his left forearm and his forehead which were treated in hospital. Jabar Paktia, right, was also an accomplice

The father also hired a private investigator to spy on his estranged wife and children before plotting the acid attack.

Three members of the gang were photographed by a worried onlooker outside the boy's school days earlier because they were acting suspiciously.

Prosecutors described it as an 'aborted attack' on the child earlier that month. CCTV also showed Pulko carrying what the court heard was a bottle of acid while walking next to the mother and her two sons.

The court heard he 'bottled' out of squirting them with the substance because there were too many people around.

Pulko, who is dressed all in black, is seen walking next to the mother as she holds her son's hand after collecting him from school.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC said: 'CCTV footage shows that at about 3.19pm, the mother and her children walked from the direction of the school towards where the family car was parked.

'Although it seems she was unaware of his presence, the CCTV camera captured Pulko as he followed her and the children towards the car park. He was carrying an object in his left hand.

A court sketch showing (left to right) Norbert Pulko, Saied Hussini, the father of the boy (who cannot be identified), Martina Badiova, Adam Cech, Jabar Paktia and Jan Dudi

'As they approached the entrance to the car park, Pulko was almost within touching distance of the boy, who was holding his mother's hand.'

There was a female standing nearby and another family group walking right behind him.

'As the mother and her children walk into the car park, Pulko stopped following them and walked away, crossing the road.

'In the light of what was to happen to the boy in Home Bargains, and Pulko's use of plastic gloves on that day, the prosecution suggests that the plan was for Pulko to squirt acid on him but he pulled out at the last minute because there were too many people around.'