Minor sentenced to 3 years at juvenile detention centre for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a July 2021 Juvenile Court ruling sentencing a minor to three years at a juvenile detention centre after convicting him of attempting to murder a high school student in Zarqa in March of 2017.

The Juvenile Court found the minor guilty of stabbing the student once in the stomach with a switchblade during a fight on March 26 and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court papers said on the day of the incident, the defendant was walking and was involved in a scuffle with another student after school hours.

“The victim happened to be walking near the brawl and was stabbed by the defendant,” according to court papers.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where attending physicians intervened and saved his life, court papers added.

The defendant’s lawyer contested the sentence, arguing that he “stabbed the victim in self-defence”.

However, the higher court ruled that the Juvenile Court had followed the proper procedures and the defendant deserved the verdict he had received.

“The victim’s actions do not constitute any life-threatening actions to the defendant, because he was just passing by and was not involved in the brawl,” the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Fawzi Nahar, Hayel Amr, Majid Azab and Ibrahim Abu Shamma.