Dubai: The Dubai Court of Appeals today reduced the jail term of a former editor convicted of killing his 63-year-old wife from 15 to seven years.
The court ordered Francis Mathew to be deported from the United Arab Emirates on serving his seven-year jail term.
The Court of Appeals initially stiffened the jail term handed down to the 62-year-old British journalist from 10 to 15 years in October 2018.
The Dubai Court of Cassation reversed the 15-year prison term last December and referred it back to the Court of Appeals for a re-trial by different judges.
The Briton, who is in detention, had been convicted of bludgeoning his wife Jane to death with a hammer.
The former editor of a local newspaper, was sentenced by the Court of First Instance to a 10-year prison term, to be followed by deportation, last March. The Briton, was initially charged with premeditated murder, but the court modified the charge to assault causing the wife’s death.
The man eventually confessed to the police that he fatally assaulted his wife, following a heated argument, claiming it was not intentional, according to Khaleej Times.