Bahrain’s highest court has rejected the final appeal of a habitual robber, who was sentenced to life in prison for punching a shopkeeper and triggering a cardiac arrest that killed him.
Last year, he was found guilty by the High Criminal Court of robbery and fatal assault, and was given a 25-year jail term, after psychiatrists declared him fit to stand trial.
The 36-year-old Bahraini ex-convict was in the middle of stealing cigarettes, juice and a sandwich from a cold store, when 58-year-old Indian victim, Koyambrath Basheer, tried to stop him.
As the late Mr Basheer ran after the appellant, yelling ‘thief! thief!’, the latter punched him in the face, causing him to collapse to the ground.
A medical examiner, who performed Mr Basheer’s autopsy, stated that this confrontation put the victim in a state of extreme agitation, causing exertion which led his heart to stop.
The appellant denied all charges during the initial trial, despite confessing to the crime during Public Prosecution questioning. The incident was also captured on camera.
He took to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to contest the verdict, but judges upheld it. He once again took to the Cassation Court for a second appeal, which was struck down.
Despite the appellant being declared fit to stand trial by a panel of psychiatrists, his lawyer used his mental illness and substance abuse disorder to try to reduce his sentence.
During the first appeal, the man’s lawyer claimed that his client did not steal anything. He said the defendant had a running tab at the cold store and was a regular customer for at least a decade.
The GDN earlier reported that the appellant, a divorced employee from Riffa, was accused four times of theft and assault on shopkeepers in the last three years.
A look at his long criminal record revealed convictions of assaulting public employees, stalking, harassing a woman, destroying property, public indecency and more since 2002.
The court earlier heard that Mr Basheer suffered from a chronic heart condition.
The medical examiner stated that, upon examining the victim’s body, it appeared that his heart was enlarged, his coronary arteries constricted, and his lungs swollen and inflamed.
The victim, who hails from Calicut, died five days later after being placed on life support.
He had been in charge of running the cold store in Hajiyat with his brother Naseer since the late 90s.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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