11-year prison term upheld for man over double attempted murder

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a January Criminal Court ruling sentencing a repeat criminal offender to 11 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder two men in an Amman suburb in December 2015.

The Criminal Court declared the man, 30, guilty of opening fire at two men following an argument near the victims’ home in the Manara suburb on December 20.

Since the convicted man was a repeat criminal offender and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2011 for assault, the court maintained, “the tribunal decided to increase his punishment by one year”.

Court papers said the two victims were standing next to their home when they heard people shouting and screaming, then saw “the defendant rushing past them and cursing God”.

“One of the victims tried to calm the defendant down and asked him not to curse God, but the defendant drew a gun and shot him in the stomach,” the court said.

The other victim attempted to intervene to stop the gunman, but “he also shot at him, though the bullet missed his ear”.

The convict fled on foot but was later apprehended by police, court papers added.

The convicted man had contested the Criminal Court ruling, claiming that “the court relied on contradictory statements by the witnesses in its ruling”.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court attorney general also appealed the verdict, asking the higher court to uphold the sentence because “the verdict was correct”.

The higher court ruled late last month that the Criminal Court’s proceedings were accurate and correct and that the defendant received the appropriate punishment.

The court was made up of judges Yassin Abdullat, Daoud Tubeleh, Mohammad Tarawneh, Mohammad Ersheidat and Bassem Mubeidin.