A relapsed drug addict has been found guilty of attempting to murder his brother-in-law, after chasing him with a sharp sickle then crushing both his legs with a car.
The defendant was heard screaming ‘I will kill him!’ at the scene of the incident, court documents stated.
Judges were also told that the driver was ‘high on methamphetamine’ at the time and terrorising his sister’s husband seemingly unprovoked.
The High Criminal Court sentenced the 41-year-old Bahraini man to 10 years in prison, after a panel of psychiatrists found him fit to stand trial.
He was convicted on charges of trying to kill the victim, along with assault, narcotic use and destruction of property, having left the man with life-threatening injuries.
The court heard that the defendant pursued his target, and struck him multiple times with a vehicle, then trapped him between two cars, crushing his bones by force as he pressed down on the accelerator pedal.
Relatives stated that the injured 44-year-old father-of-three was adored by his in-laws and that the defendant had made many threats against him, even though the victim was always ‘kind to him’.
During the trial, the defence claimed that the suspect’s judgement was impaired at the time of the incident, and that he could not be held accountable for his actions, but the psychiatric evaluation did not support their claims.
The GDN earlier reported that in March, the unemployed Saar resident came outside his sister’s Bu Quwah apartment, threatening her husband with a sharp farming tool.
The Bahraini civil employee was looking out of his balcony when his brother-in-law suddenly started screaming at him and threatening to kill him, sickle in hand, but he eventually left.
Later the victim went to a cold store in his neighbourhood and was surprised to see his angry relative, who began to chase after him, then broke his car window.
“On the day of the incident, I received a call from the victim, complaining to me about the defendant’s threats and attacks,” the attacker’s 33-year-old brother earlier testified. “I went to where the two were, and saw my brother in the act of terrorising our sister’s husband. I caught him and made him get into my car, but he was trying to get out.
“He then took control of my car and tried to hit the victim, and my brother-in-law initially managed to escape, but when he tried once again he struck him, trapping him between two cars.
“He continued to crush him, pressing on the pedal, and I only managed to stop him by breaking the window, putting the car into reverse, and turning off the car.
“He stepped out yelling: ‘I will kill him!’”
The younger brother further went on to explain the suspect’s history of addiction, recounting that in 2008, he was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in a drug case. “He got clean by the time he was released, but he relapsed last year and returned to using drugs. He’s threatened our sister’s husband on multiple occasions.
“He harbours an animosity against the victim, even though the entire family loves him and he hasn’t wronged the defendant.”
In Public Prosecution questioning, the defendant admitted to using drugs, damaging the victim’s property and assaulting the victim, but stated that he did not remember the specifics as he was ‘high’.
The attempted murder accusations were tied to a charge that the defendant was under the influence methamphetamine when he committed the alleged crime.
According to a medical report, the assault left the victim with severe injuries that ‘could lead to his death if complications occurred’.
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