A mentally ill British man has been sentenced to death in Pakistan after being convicted of blasphemy charges, defence lawyers have said.

Mohammed Asghar, 69, was arrested in 2010 in Rawalpindi, near Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, for claiming to be the Prophet Mohammed in letters that were later produced at his trial, prosecutor Javed Gul said.

But a lawyer that previously defended Asghar said the case was really a property dispute and he suffers from mental illness.

Yesterday a judge convicted and sentenced Asghar, who is of Pakistani origin, Mr Gul said.

Asghar returned to Pakistan in 2010 after being treated for paranoid schizophrenia in Edinburgh, the lawyer said.

The defendant later fell into a dispute with a tenant who brought the blasphemy complaint against him to police.

The doctor treating Asghar in Edinburgh said in a letter dated June 2011 that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and believed the Pakistani and British governments were trying to control him. The letter was provided to The Associated Press by his lawyer, who asked not to be named as those in blasphemy cases face threats and violence.

Prosecutors disputed that Asghar had mental problems. The British High Commission in Islamabad said it was aware of the case and provided assistance.

Lawyers said they will appeal against Asghar’s conviction, and they were worried about his mental condition and physical safety while he is in prison.

He was arrested for claiming to be the Prophet Mohammed

Scores of people have been arrested in Pakistan under the country’s harsh blasphemy laws, which carry life sentences or the death penalty, though executions are rarely carried out. Rights groups say the laws often are exploited for personal gain.