DUBAI // A request to return the Kerry Winter murder trial to prosecution so further charges against the defendant could be added has been denied.
Hussein al Jaziri, the Winter family lawyer, yesterday asked the Dubai Court of Appeal to refer the case back to the public prosecutors' office to allow charges of concealing a body to be added to defendant M A's premeditated murder charge.
The court refused and dismissed the request. No reason was given.
M A, the former boyfriend of Winter, was found guilty of premeditated murder by the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance on June 7 and sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Meanwhile, two prosecution witnesses summoned by M A's defence lawyer, Yousif Hammad, failed to show up at yesterday's hearing.
At the last hearing, Mr Hammad asked the appeal court to present two former colleagues of M A's for questioning.
The colleagues, Maurice Agorious from Britain and Abdel Salam Khan from Pakistan, were key to the prosecution's case.
Mr Agorious claimed he purchased a large burlap sack for the defendant, and prosecutors speculated this was where M A placed the body of Ms Winter before dumping it at sea.
Mr Khan told prosecutors that M A had been stalking Ms Winter for days with a GPS tracking device before he killed her.
Both men have failed to appear in court before, first at the lower court's hearings and now at the higher court sessions.
Prosecutors told the court yesterday the two were not subpoenaed because they could not be located.
The court ordered prosecutors to investigate with the General Director of Residency and Foreigners Affairs whether Mr Agorious and Mr Khan still reside in the country.
Winter, who was 36 when she disappeared, was last seen on August 20, 2008 outside her Al Barsha villa. Despite extensive searches, no body has been found.
The defendant was arrested after neighbours told prosecutors they saw him beat her with a baseball bat before dragging her into a car and driving away.
The court will reconvene on September 26 to hear the prosecution's response to the requests for the witnesses.
amustafa@thenational.ae
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Frida%20
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek independent legal advice.
HOSTS
T20 WORLD CUP
2024: US and West Indies; 2026: India and Sri Lanka; 2028: Australia and New Zealand; 2030: England, Ireland and Scotland
ODI WORLD CUP
2027: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 2031: India and
Bangladesh
CHAMPIONS TROPHY
2025: Pakistan; 2029: India
MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
BRIEF SCORES
England 228-7, 50 overs
N Sciver 51; J Goswami 3-23
India 219, 48.4 overs
P Raut 86, H Kaur 51; A Shrubsole 6-46
England won by nine runs
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.