LONDON // A hammer-wielding thug who bludgeoned three Emirati sisters while robbing their hotel room said on Wednesday that he wanted to make them “pass out” so he could make a getaway.
Philip Spence, 32, was high on crack cocaine and heroin when he slipped into the victims’ suite at the Cumberland Hotel, near Marble Arch, central London.
Once inside he began stashing iPads, phones and designer handbags from the seventh-floor room in a suitcase he found.
But Khuloud Al Najjar, 36, woke up, prompting Spence to pull a hammer from his leather jacket and rain blows on the sisters’ heads in front of their terrified children, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Khuloud and her sisters Ohoud, 34, and Fatima, 31, from Sharjah, suffered crushed skulls and life-threatening injuries in the raid on April 6.
Spence fled the scene with a stolen suitcase crammed with items including a white Cartier diamond-encrusted watch worth more than Dh70,000 and Louis Vuitton jewellery.
He told jurors he had spent the day with Neofitos “Thomas” Efremi, 57, taking crack and heroin at the latter’s north London flat.
“I had an argument with Tom,” he said. “I ended up going to the Cumberland. That is where I sleep if I don’t have anywhere to sleep.
“I went to the fifth floor and I walked around, then I went to the seventh floor — I was looking for something to eat.”
Spence was in the habit of sleeping in the maid’s cleaning closets and scavenging food from trays left in the corridor, the court heard.
“I was walking down the corridor and I saw the door [to room 7008, where Ohoud was sleeping] was slightly open. I could see some stuff on the floor right in front of the door. It was designer bags and some make-up,” he said.
Spence slipped into the darkened room where Ohoud was sleeping with her nine-year-old nephew. “I looked around, I saw some iPads, I decided to use a suitcase I saw that was open and put them inside it,” he said.
The thief then walked into the adjoining room where Fatima, Khuloud and Khuloud’s daughters, aged just 11 and seven, were also asleep.
“What’s the next thing that happened?” asked Spence’s lawyer William Nash. “She [Khuloud] woke up,” he replied.
“She was saying something, I asked her for money.”
“Did you get money?”
“No, she was screaming. Her sister woke up, I could see movement, I could see her get up.”
“What was going through your mind?”
“I need to get out of there.”
“What did you actually do?” asked Mr Nash.
“I took the hammer that I carried with me. It was in my inside pocket of the leather jacket. I wanted to try to make them pass out so I could get away,” Spence replied.
“I went through to the next room and I hit her [Ohoud] — she was awake, sitting up.”
Spence admitted he hit Ohoud after “she started shouting”.
“What was your intention in hitting her?’ asked Mr Nash.
“Just that she lose consciousness. I wanted to get away without being stopped by hotel security — I didn’t want people on the floor to hear what was going on.”
Spence has admitted three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent but denies attempted murder.
“I wouldn’t have wanted my actions to cause the loss of someone’s life,” he said. “I didn’t think it was as bad.”
After the brutal attack, Spence took the valuables to co-defendant Efremi’s flat, where he rang a drug dealer and consumed more heroin and crack.
He confessed he was “high” at the time of the attacks and said he was “shocked” when he saw the news coverage.
“It [the news] was just saying that three women are in a grave condition and someone attacked them with a hammer. I was shocked,” he said.
Spence initially denied the savage attacks on the women but confessed in the face of “overwhelming evidence”.
Spence, of Alperton, north-west London, admits three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of aggravated burglary. But he denies three counts of attempted murder and one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.
Efremi, who left the flat minutes after Spence’s arrival, has admitted a single charge of fraud. He made 10 withdrawals totalling £5,000 (Dh29,239) using bank cards stolen from Fatima.
Efremi, of Islington, north London, denies conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.
James Moss, 33, has admitted handling stolen goods including mobile phones, handbags and jewellery. Moss, of Stroud Green, north London, will be sentenced later.
The trial continues.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
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Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
'Nope'
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
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- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
The specs
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Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
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German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
More coverage from the Future Forum
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution