Man jailed for 8 years for attempted murder

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to eight years in prison with hard labour after convicting him of attempting to murder a man in Amman in September 2020.

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

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

Court papers said that the victim and defendant exchanged hateful messages a few hours before the incident.

Shortly afterwards, the court maintained, the defendant spotted the victim in his vehicle.

"The defendant intercepted the victim’s vehicle and blocked his path," the court documents said.

The defendant jumped from his vehicle with a pump action shotgun and began firing at the victim, the court added.

“The bullets struck the victim in the leg and he was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment,” the court maintained.

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

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the eight-year prison term with hard labour ruling.

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

The Court of Cassation bench comprised judges Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi and Mohammad Khashashneh.