Dubai The life imprisonment against Mark Arnold, a British manager, became irrevocable this morning after Dubai's highest court convicted him of killing his South African ex-girlfriend, Kerry Winter.
The Dubai Cassation Court upheld the life sentence against 43-year-old Arnold after Presiding Judge Mohammad Nabil Riyadh rejected his appeal.
Arnold's lawyer Yousuf Hammad argued before the Cassation Court earlier nobody witnessed a British manager beating his ex-girlfriend, 36-year-old Kerry Winter, or saw her dead.
"Not a single witness testified that he/she saw my client beating Kerry and not a single witness saw her dead. In his confession before prosecutors and police, my client did not confess that he had any premeditated intention or will to kill Kerry," argued Hammad.
Court records confirmed that Kerry's body was never recovered or found.
The Winters' lawyer Hussain Al Jaziri told Gulf News that the legal battle now moves on to the Dubai Civil Court.
Al Jaziri said they are claiming Dh201,000 in temporary compensation against the damages which his clients incurred following this crime.
"I will have to meet with my clients and discuss the permanent amount they plan to claim against their emotional, psychological and moral damages before the Civil Court," Al Jaziri told Gulf News.
"The factor of premeditation has been ruled out completely from this case. Please drop from your argument the deliberation of the premeditation factor and concentrate on the killing charge…" said Presiding Judge Riyadh when he intruded Hammad's defence in a previous hearing.
"Sure sir. When my client was questioned by prosecutors and police, he confessed that he did not have any motivation or intention to kill her. He confessed that they had an argument and he grabbed a 30-cm stick and beat her. He beat her but didn't kill her. The Courts of First Instance and Appeal neglected our request to see the surveillance camera footages at Mina Al Salam where Winter and Arnold met. We had asked for that footage to see what happened when they met," argued Hammad upon defending Arnold in courtroom 22.
