Lawyer seeks 'mercy' for Dubai editor who hacked wife to death

Dubai - His lawyer pleaded to decrease the former editor's 10-year prison sentence.

A lawyer representing a journalist accused of hacking his wife to death with a hammer has called on a Dubai court to show mercy to his client as he had not "intended or planned to kill her". He got "carried away in a moment of rage", the lawyer claimed before the Dubai appeals court.
Ali Al Shamsi of Al Shamsi and Partners, Advocates and Legal Consultants, pleaded to decrease the former editor's 10-year prison sentence, arguing that the crime was a result of a "series of verbal provocations". The court will pronounce a verdict on October 7.
The 61-year-old British journalist was sentenced to a 10-year prison term, to be followed by deportation, on March 25 on a modified charge of assaulting his wife, 62, and causing her death. Prosecutors had initially accused him of premeditated murder.
In his arguments, Al Shamsi argued that for the premeditation element to be considered, the tool used in committing the crime must be arranged in advance. "A premeditated murder requires careful thinking - calmness and patience before execution - rather than a person who was agitated and behaved madly in an instant."
Al Shamsi stressed that his client was "provoked" by the victim's words and attitude. "A heated argument prompted him to go to the kitchen and bring a hammer. Even though the couple had been having financial problems and occasional verbal brawls over their relocation from their villa to a less expensive flat, that did not go beyond ordinary marital quarrels. They lived together for almost 30 years, which indicates they had been getting along as a couple and they would go out together later like nothing happened.
"The fact that they had booked a flight back home for their son's graduation ceremony, and the flight was due about 20 days after the incident, clearly indicates that he had no ill intention whatsoever towards her."
Al Shamsi also referred to the court testimony of Dr Mona Al Jouhary, a forensic expert, that his client struck the victim only once, rather than twice, with the hammer.
"Her evaluation of my client is that he could not be held responsible for his action, for his mind had been severely clouded due to a culmination of enormous stress and pressure caused by huge debts. He was deemed insane at the time he committed the crime," the lawyer told the court.
On July 4, 2017, the former editor called the police to report that his wife was killed by thieves who had broken into his villa in Umm Suqeim 1 while he was away.
However, the police found leads that suggested foul play. They confronted the husband with their findings and he eventually confessed to having hit his wife to death with a hammer following a heated argument, claiming it was not intentional.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai