Court upholds prison sentence in Amman spear killing case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld a December 2017 Criminal Court ruling sentencing a 29-year-old man to 20 years in prison after convicting him of murdering a man, with a spear, in Amman in February of 2015.

The court declared the defendant guilty of stabbing a man to death with a spear, following a heated argument on February 17, and handed him the maximum sentence.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay JD99,320 in compensation to the victim’s family.

Court papers said the defendant and the victim had old unresolved feuds.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant was driving his vehicle when “he spotted the victim in the street and asked him to ride with him to discuss the unresolved conflicts”.

“The discussion turned deadly when the defendant grabbed a spear and stabbed the victim once in the chest,” court documents said.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared dead upon arriving as a result of internal bleeding, according to court transcripts.

Meanwhile, the defendant headed to a police station and turned himself in.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures and the defendant deserved the verdict he received.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zu’bi, Yassin Abdullat, Bassem Mubeidin and Majid Azab.