Three al-Jazeera journalists have been sentenced to three years in prison at their retrial in Cairo.

Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed were convicted in Egypt of "spreading false news".

Australian Peter Greste was deported back to Australia earlier this year and was on trial again in absentia.

The three are accused of aiding the banned Muslim Brotherhood group but they strenuously deny the allegations.

The three journalists were originally sentenced in July 2014, with Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy receiving seven years and Mr Mohamed getting 10 years. Their convictions were however overturned in January this year and they were freed in February to await retrial.

Giving the verdict on Saturday, judge Hassan Farid said the three men were not registered journalists and had been operating from a Cairo hotel without a licence.

He handed three-year sentences to Mr Greste and Mr Fahmy but gave Mr Mohamed an additional six months.

It is unclear how long Mr Fahmy and Mr Mohamed will now serve. They were in prison for about a year before being freed.

Lawyers for the three journalists are expected to appeal the decision as the verdict came as a shock to a room packed full of Egyptian and foreign journalists.

The expectation was that the journalists would be found guilty, she adds, but that they would be given a lesser sentence and be allowed to walk free.

Mr Greste said in a tweetthat he was "shocked" and "outraged" by the verdict, which he described as "so wrong".

Al-Jazeera in a statement said it was "yet another deliberate attack on press freedom".

"It is a dark day for the Egyptian judiciary; rather than defend liberties and a free and fair media they have compromised their independence for political reasons," it added.