Man sentenced to 8 years for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an October Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a man with a scissor in Jerash in November 2022.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempted murder on Nov. 17 and handed him a 12-year prison term with hard labour.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to eight years because the victim dropped charges against the defendant.

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

"The two men met in downtown Jerash and engaged in a heated argument," court documents said.

The defendant headed to a barber shop grabbed a scissor and returned to face the victim,” the court added.

“The defendant stabbed the victim twice in the back and fled,” court papers said.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and survived the stabbing incident due to medical intervention, the court papers added.

The defendant was arrested shortly after the incident, the court papers stated.

The defendant contested his ruling via his lawyer arguing that there were “legal errors in the investigation procedures”.

The lawyer argued that there were “contradictory statements that the court relied on in its ruling,” the court documents stated.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the eight-year sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

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