Man gets 20-year jail term in bludgeoning death case

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling sentencing a nightclub employee in Aqaba to 20 years in prison after convicting him of bludgeoning a man to death over a minor traffic incident in November 2015.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of striking the victim repeatedly on his head with a blunt object on November 13, leading to his death three days later. The defendant was given the maximum sentence.

Court papers from the day of the incident said the victim was in a vehicle with two of his friends when they approached the nightclub the defendant worked at around dawn. 

“The vehicle hit another parked car near the nightclub, prompting the defendant and two other men to attack the victim and his friends following a heated argument,” court documents said. 

Court documents added that “the defendant struck the victim with a wooden stick twice on his head, and he fell down”. 

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died a few days later as a result of the wounds to his head, according to court transcripts.

The defendant contested the verdict through his lawyer, arguing that he “was not the person responsible for the death of the victim”  and that the prosecution failed to review the surveillance tapes that were in the area, court documents read.

“The Criminal Court relied on a witness’ testimony which was contradictory and weak,” the defence argued.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the 20-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 Mohammad Ibrahim, Hamad Ghzawi, Majid Azab, Yassin Abdullat and Naji Zu’bi.