School teacher handed 15-year prison term for bank robbery

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing a school teacher to 15 years in prison after convicting him of robbing a bank with a plastic gun in Amman in January 2019.

The court declared the defendant guilty of theft and carrying out acts that would endanger the safety of society, disturbing public order, spreading fear among citizens, endangering the lives of the bank employees and jeopardising economic resources and handed him the maximum punishment.

Court papers said the defendant woke up one day on January 22 and decided to rob a local bank to earn extra money in an illegal manner.

“The defendant grabbed a children’s plastic gun then drove to Sahab where he bought sunglasses and a baseball cap,” court documents said.

The defendant then headed to a bank branch in the area, handed the teller a bag “while pointing the gun at him and asked him to fill it with cash”.

“The defendant shouted at the employees and customers not to move or he would detonate the bank with explosives,” court papers added.

“The defendant escaped from the bank with a bag that contained JD13,845,” the court documents said.

The defendant returned home where he burnt the baseball cap and hid the stolen cash in a hole he dug in the backyard of his house, the court papers said.

However, the defendant was arrested shortly after the bank robbery, the court transcripts added.

The defendant, through his lawyer, contested the court’s ruling arguing that “my client should have been referred to the National Institute of Psychiatric Medicine (NIPM) by the SSC for a mental health assessment”.

The defendant’s lawyer also contested the court’s verdict stating that it was “harsh and exaggerated compared with the act that was carried out by my client”.

Meanwhile, the SSC prosecution office asked the upper court to uphold the court ruling, stating that investigation procedures were conducted in accordance with the law and the defendant deserves the punishment he had received.

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

Furthermore, the Court of Cassation said that there was no “indication or proof that the defendant suffered from any mental health problems and there is no need to send him to the NIPM for an evaluation”.

The Court of Cassation bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Yassin Abdullat, Bassem Mubeidin and Mohammad Khashashneh.