Life term of man involved in Saudi youth's murder reduced

A Bahraini man, convicted of murdering a 21-year-old Saudi youth, has had his life sentence reduced to 15 years. The defendant, aged 46, had allegedly stabbed his victim during a serious argument in 2014.

He pleaded not guilty earlier, though he had admitted to his responsibility for the victim’s death during interrogation. He, however, pointed out during his trial that he had fears over his own safety when he was attacked by the victim, explaining that the knife used in the crime belonged to the victim.

“He attacked me with the knife, before I managed to grab it and stab him with it,” the Bahraini man told the judges earlier.  But eyewitnesses had earlier said that both men exchanged punches, before the defendant drew knife and stabbed the victim twice, killing him on the spot.

The Bahraini man earlier claimed in his statement that he was homeless and the victim urinated on his wardrobe.

During the closing arguments, the defence lawyer stated that his client had a legitimate reason to defend himself.

But judges at the High Criminal Court dismissed this argument, pointing out that the defendant had only wanted to bring the fight to an end by murdering his victim.

“And this was confirmed by the witnesses’ testimonies, who revealed that the defendant had initially hit his victim’s head with a plank before picking up a knife fell from his pocket and stabbed his victim,” a court verdict read. A medical examiner’s report stated the fatal wound penetrated 11cm into the left side of the victim’s chest, while the second stab wound was in the right side of his chest.

Two knives were recovered from the sea near the crime scene and tests would be conducted to determine if one of them was the murder weapon.

Photo: www.batonrougecrime.com