Dubai, June 08: A Dubai court on Monday sentenced a Briton to 15 years in prison for killing his South African ex-girlfriend and dumping her body in the sea.
The Court of First Instance presided over by Judge Hamad Abdel Latif Abdel Jawad also pronounced that the 43-year-old Mark Arnold be deported after serving his term.
In consensus with judges Mohammed Bilabed and Jassem Ibrahim, the Presiding Judge found Arnold guilty of premeditated killing of Kerry Winter, 37.
Arnold had known Winter for five years. The defence is to appeal against the verdict.
The lawyer of Winter’s family, Hussein Al Jaziri, said in a statement that justice had been served. However, the victim’s family still hopes that their daughter’s body is found one day and buried near the graves of her loved ones.
Winter went missing on August 20, 2008 after a quarrel with Arnold.
According to the Public Prosecution, Arnold, during his interrogation, had admitted to hitting Winter on her head with a baseball bat in her villa. After he found her dead, he disposed off her body in the waters off Mina Al Seyahi, using his yacht, blanket and weights.
Al Jaziri had earlier presented in the court the details of how the defendant had arranged to buy a blanket and weights and had a flight ticket booked to flee the country.
Arnold, in detention since August 25, 2008, has consistently pleaded not guilty in the trial stressing he had left the victim alive that night. He was arrested at the Dubai International Airport on his return from the UK.
Even though Kerry’s body has not been found yet, the Public Prosecution presented a series of evidence to the court, including the DNA of blood sample taken from the back seat of the victim’s car which matched with the DNA taken from her toothbrush. In addition, testimonies of witnesses also formed part of the evidence.
–Agencies