Sentence is upheld for diplomat's son

DUBAI // The Dubai Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a one-year jail sentence for a diplomat's 20-year-old son convicted of stabbing to death his sister's boyfriend. AA was found guilty of stabbing the victim four times with a kitchen knife at his family's Jumeirah villa on November 10 last year. He attacked the victim, BM, 35, as he was sneaking out of the house in the early morning.

The defendant's sister, 23, testified that she had been having an affair with the victim. She told prosecutors that he had come to the house after they had an argument on the phone. As he was leaving their villa, she heard a confrontation erupt with her brother. When she called out to BM, he told her he had been stabbed. AA had claimed that he was defending himself and did not intend to kill the victim.

The lower court took into consideration AA's young age when it handed down the one-year sentence. The criminal code allows for leniency is cases where the suspect is of a young age. amustafa@thenational.ae