LIFE TERM FOR 20-YR OLD

A 20-year-old was sentenced to life in prison in a murder case, despite his lawyer’s efforts to prove the accused was mentally ill. He was convicted yesterday before the High Criminal Court for murdering a friend, aged 19, and injuring another.

The convict reportedly committed the crime by hitting the victims with his car. The crash killed the first victim, identified as Ali Al Jadd, who was vomiting blood after he landed on his face.

He was later taken to Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), where he was declared dead. The second victim suffered several injuries and was also taken to SMC.

According to court files, the victims cropped out his image from a group photo before uploading it on their BlackBerry’s BBM. This annoyed the accused provoking him to kill them.

“Before the incident, he sent a message to us kill or be killed, as he was in a foul mood,” a witness stated before the court.

The accused’s lawyer, on the other hand, underlined earlier her client must be declared irresponsible of his actions owing to his incessant mental problems. “My client suffered a lot of harassment because of his appearance after losing an eye in a road mishap. He was dubbed Masih ad-Dajjal (Anti-Christ). This badly shattered his mental shape, forcing him to quit school at an early stage,” she said.

The second victim who survived the crash told prosecutors earlier a dispute broke out between the 19-year-old deceased and the accused, and they exchanged insults through on mobile phone verbally and through text messages.

It is claimed the two victims decided to solve the dispute and went to Northern Sehla where the accused lived. “We were shocked to see him (the accused) accelerating his car towards us,” the 16-year-old boy told prosecutors.

The Public Prosecution charged the accused with premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder. He, however, pleaded not guilty.

Initial reports about the incident, however, suggested it happened after the duo discovered they were sharing the same homosexual friend, prompting them to accuse each other of attempting to steal him.

They reportedly accused each other of copying contact details of homosexual friends from each other’s mobile phones.