A Bahraini court sentenced seven Shia men to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for the attempted murder of a police officer in August 2012, a judicial source said.

An eighth Shia was sentenced to three years in prison while two others, on trial over the same case, were acquitted, the source said.

The group were also accused of setting a police station ablaze in the Shia village of Sitra using petrol bombs and of taking part in an "unauthorised gathering," according to the charge sheet.

Bahrain, a Gulf kingdom ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, was rocked by Shia-dominated demonstrations in February and March 2011.

Home to the US Fifth Fleet and strategically situated across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain still sees sporadic Shia-led demonstrations, mostly outside the capital Manama.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights, around 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since the violence first broke out in 2011.