Repeat offender sentenced for 4 years in prison for burglary

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an April 2021 Irbid Appeals Court ruling, sentencing a repeat offender to four years in prison after convicting him of burglarising a house in Ajloun in July 2020.

The defendant was convicted of breaking into a house in the town of Anjara on July 15 and stealing valuable goods. For this, the court handed him a three-year prison term.

However, the court decided to add an additional year onto the sentence given the defendant’s status as a repeat offender.

Court papers said that the defendant broke into an unoccupied house, as the residents had gone to visit relatives in a nearby town two days prior.

When the residents returned to their house, the court maintained, they found one of the windows broken and the house had been vandalised.

Several items were taken from the house, including a PlayStation and some mobile phones, according to the court transcripts. 

The defendant was arrested following a complaint by a shop owner, who heard of the robbery, and was offered the PlayStation for sale, the court added.

“The defendant attempted to sell the stolen goods to a shop owner but was arrested shortly afterward,” according to the court papers.  

The defendant contested the Irbid Appeals Court’s ruling through his lawyer, asking to be declared innocent arguing that the “prosecution failed to provide solid evidence in the case”.

Meanwhile, the Irbid Appeals Court’s general attorney asked the higher court to uphold the verdict against the defendant.

The Court of Cassation ruled that the verdict was correct and the defendant deserved the ruling he had received. 

The Cassation Court comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Khashashneh, Nayef Samarat, Qassem Dughmi and Hammad Ghzawi.