Jurors in Emirati hammer case learn of attacker’s movements

Philip Spence has been traced on CCTV cameras before and after his brutal assault, and he even sits alongside a member of the public on a bus while examining the goods he stole from the Emirati sisters.

Philip Spence, left, and Neofitos “Thoms” Efremi in court, they are accused of attacking two Emirati sisters in a London hotel with a hammer. Priscilla Coleman / MB Media for The National

LONDON // Jurors in the trial of Philip Spence were told on Wednesday that CCTV cameras tracked his journey to the Cumberland Hotel and his escape after the attack.

Dressed in a T-shirt with a distinctive logo on the front, a dark blazer and a brown leather jacket, he concealed his claw-hammer weapon in his clothing.

The blazer and jacket were later found at co-defendant Noefitos “Thomas” Efremi’s north London flat with the blood of Emirati sisters Kuhloud and Ohoud on it.

Spence entered the hotel at about 1.09am and can be seen striding purposefully through the spacious white lobby moments before launching his savage attack.

He boards the lift to the fifth floor and, in the 20 minutes that followed, brutally hit the three sisters with the hammer.

At 1.36am he walks back out of the hotel through the lobby with a dark-brown suitcase in his hand and turns left to go to Marble Arch.

Spence ditched the hammer out of a seventh-floor fire escape window, jurors heard. Two minutes later, he is seen running towards the N16 night bus to Victoria, breathing heavily as he boards.

He climbs the stairs to the empty upper deck and throws himself into a seat on the back row. Spence starts fidgeting, taking things out of his pockets to examine them and wiping his brow.

He also attempts to call co-defendant Efremi six times on a mobile phone stolen from Khuloud.

At 1.46am he leaves the bus at Victoria and boards a second night bus, the N73, a minute later. He sits downstairs surrounded by members of the public.

At 1.50am he starts rummaging through the stolen suitcase, which is stuffed with the sisters’ valuables.

Spence inspects some cash, rifles through a purse and then starts to examine what appears to be gold jewellery. He then digs his hand into the bag and unzips the case, revealing a Louis Vuitton purse and an iPad with a Hello Kitty cover.

Spence examines the stolen items, persisting even when someone sits next to him. He makes numerous further phone calls to Efremi, jurors heard. He gets off the bus almost exactly an hour after he is seen leaving the Cumberland Hotel.

Spence then walks to Efremi’s flat. Within minutes Efremi leaves his flat with the stolen bank cards and withdraws £5,000 (Dh29,500) in cash, jurors heard.