Man handed 10-year prison term for attempted murder of shop owner

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a January Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 10 years in prison after convicting him of attempting to murder a shop owner in Russeifa in June 2014.

The court declared the defendant guilty of attempting to murder the shop owner by firing at him from a pump action gun on June 18.

The court first sentenced the defendant to seven years in prison but decided to add three years because he had a criminal record.

Court documents said the defendant had an old feud with the victim.

On the day of the incident, the court maintained, the defendant decided to "kill the victim so he took two weapons and went to where he worked with two other defendants".

"The minute the defendant saw the victim he grabbed a shotgun and fired towards him but the bullet jammed," according to court documents.

"The victim ran towards the defendant in an attempt to stop him from shooting at him and managed to grab the weapon from him," court papers said.

The defendant went back to his vehicle and grabbed a pump action gun "and fired another round and this time it struck the victim in the hand".

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he underwent a surgery and survived the shooting incident, court documents added.

Meanwhile, the defendant escaped from the area and was later arrested by police, according to the court verdict.

The Criminal Court's general attorney had asked the higher court to uphold the ruling against the defendant.

The defendant contested the ruling asking to be declared innocent arguing that the "Criminal Court depended on inconsistent testimonies by the witnesses and the prosecution office failed to provide solid evidence that would implicate the defendant".

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

The Cassation Court bench comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat, Majid Azab, Nayef Samarat and Naji Zu'bi.