Man handed 10 years for attempted murders in Wihdat

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder two men in Amman in April 2020.

The Criminal Court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to murder two men in Wihdat neighbourhood, and handed him a 15-year prison term.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence to 10 years because the victims dropped the charges against the defendant.

The court also convicted the defendant of violating defence orders 2 and 3, which are related to violating COVID-19 rules, and ordered the defendant to pay JD100 in fines.

Court papers indicated that the defendant engaged in “a heated argument” with the two victims while standing in the street.

"The defendant left the area and went home, where he grabbed a pump action shotgun," the court documents said.

The defendant returned to the area and opened fire at the two victims, the court added.

“The victims received multiple non-life-threatening wounds to their hand and stomach, and were treated at a nearby hospital,” the court papers said.

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 10-year sentence against the defendant.

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, Nayef Samarat, Hammad Ghzawi, Qassem Dughmi and Yassin Abdullat.