A SOLICITOR who championed the cause of domestic violence victims has been jailed for five years for an attack on two people in Bolton.

Sultan Mahmood, aged 37, of Handsworth Wood Road, Birmingham, appeared alongside his uncle, Mohammed Nazir, 46, of Lavender Road, Farnworth, who was also jailed for five years at Bolton Crown Court yesterday.

The pair had been earlier convicted of actual bodily harm after they attacked Mahmood’s tenants Khurram Awan and Noman Shazhadon, on July 20, with either a brick, a knuckle duster or a lump of metal.

The weapon was never recovered by police.

Both victims suffered serious cuts to their heads.

The court heard that Mahmood, who was a solicitor and a pillar in the community also owned a number of properties in Bolton.

On the night of the attack, Mahmood had travelled from Birmingham to Bolton to meet with Nazir, and, after calling at a police station, had gone to the home of his tenants armed with a blunt weapon to attack them because they had fallen behind on their rent.

Father-of-four Mahmood was a man of previous good character but Nazir had previous convictions for assault and violence.

Defence barrister for Mahmood, Nadeem Aullybocus, said his client had spent 10 years becoming a solicitor but had shown a “total lack of judgement” on the night of the attack.

At the time he was having financial difficulties at home.

Mr Aullybocus added: “It is a personal tragedy for a man who has lost a prestigious career.

“He even fought for the victims of domestic violence within his community. It’s a tragedy for his wife and children that he will now spend time in custody."

Defence barrister for Nasir, Patrick Cassidy, said his last conviction for battery was eight years ago.

He added: “This will be the most serious conviction and he is not an intinsically a violent man.”

Recorder David Williams told Mahmood: “You are a solicitor and were engaged in landlord and tenant work.

“You had the expertise to know what to do in the event of a tenant dispute through the courts.

“Instead of staying at home with your wife and children on the night of the attack you came to Bolton and went to this house where there were both children and older people. One does not know how they felt about their menfolk being battered.”

A spokesman for the Law Society said: “When a solicitor is convicted of a criminal offence they have a duty to inform us.

“At that point we will make a decision as to whether this goes forward to a solicitor’s disciplinary hearing for consideration of further sanction.”