Tensions rose in Egypt yesterday as former president Hosni Mubarak was given a life sentence for failing to stop the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising – but was cleared, along with his sons, of corruption charges.

Justice was not served. This is a sham

By nightfall, a large crowd of up to 10,000 had gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the uprising which led to Mr Mubarak’s removal, to vent anger overthe acquittals.

Similar protests began in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and Suez on the Red Sea.

Ramadan Ahmed, whose son was killed on January 28, the bloodiest day of last year’s uprising, said outside the courthouse: “Justice was not served. This is a sham.”

The case against Mr Mubarak, his sons and top aides was very limited in scope, focusing only on the uprising’s first few days and two narrow corruption cases.

The case was never going to provide a full accountability of wrongdoing under Mr Mubarak’s three decades of authoritarian rule, enforced by a brutal police force and a coterie of businessmen linked to the regime who amassed wealth while nearly half of Egypt’s people lived in poverty.

Mr Mubarak, 84, and his ex-security chief Habib el-Adly were both convicted ofcomplicity in the killings of some 900 protesters and got life sentences.