Kerry Winter murder suspect asks for passport

Dubai: A lawyer has asked a court for his British client's passport in order to prove he did not premeditatedly kill 36-year-old South African Kerry Winter.

Advocate Yousuf Hammad, asked the Dubai Court of First Instance yesterday to release his 43-year-old client M.A.'s passport from Dubai Public Prosecution's requisition and attach it to the case file.

"Your Honour, my client was charged with premeditated murder. Directly after the incident, he left Dubai for few days and returned. Had he been guilty, why would he return then? It is a crucial and essential pleading in our defence to get his passport and prove to the jury that his travel document carried an exit stamp [dated after the incident] and an entry stamp as well. We want to prove that had he committed premeditated murder, he would not have returned to Dubai knowing that he had the chance to escape," Hammad asserted before Presiding Judge Hamad Abdul Latif Abdul Jawad.

Missing witness

Advocate Eman Al Rifai'i, representing the Winters in civil right, insisted before the judge to hear the statement of a prosecution witness, who failed to appear in yesterday's hearing.

The witness has failed to appear in court several times.

"The court reconvenes on February 25 to summon the prosecution witness and club the suspect's passport to the file box. The jury will also hear the defence," Presiding Judge Abdul Jawad concluded.

M.A. had pleaded not guilty and denied the charges of premeditatedly killing Winter, then tying weights to her body and dumping her in the sea.

When the judge asked the court translator Abdul Qader to see if M.A. had any requests, the latter was heard complaining and saying: "Too much ... too long. It's a farce. I want to submit my defence now."

Hammad, thereafter, approached his client, who stood in his white prison clothes inside the dock, and explained to him what happened. The advocate was heard explaining to M.A. that he will submit his defence "even if the prosecution fails to show up in the upcoming hearing."

In a previous hearing, an investigator testified that a woman answered Winter's mobile phone saying: "I'm Kerry and I'm okay," when he called her within 45-minutes of her being attacked.