A Saudi prince who strangled and beat his servant to death at the culmination of a campaign of "sadistic" abuse was jailed for life today and told that "no one in this country is above the law".
Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, a grandson of the billionaire king of Saudi Arabia, was ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years for murdering Bandar Abdulaziz in a "brutal" assault at their five-star hotel in central London.
The prince bit the 32-year-old hard on both cheeks during the attack at their suite in February, which was said to have had a "sexual element". He had been drinking champagne and cocktails when he began the ferocious beating after a Valentine's night out.
The Old Bailey had heard that the murder of Abdulaziz was the last act in a "deeply abusive" master-servant relationship in which the prince carried out frequent attacks on his aide "for his own personal gratification".
Saud initially believed he had diplomatic immunity, but his status as a Saudi royal could not save him from arrest and prosecution.
Sentencing him today, Mr Justice Bean said: "It is very unusual for a prince to be in the dock on a murder charge. No one in this country is above the law. It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the Saudi royal family."
The judge said he could not be sure that Saud had intended to kill Abdulaziz, but "I think the most likely explanation is that you could not care less whether you killed him or not".
The 34-year-old prince, who stood in the dock with his arms crossed, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down. He was found guilty of murder yesterday after the jury had deliberated for an hour and 35 minutes.
He was also convicted of a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent, relating to a previous attack on Abdulaziz in a lift at the Landmark hotel, in Marylebone, where the men were staying.
During the trial, jurors were told that by the early hours of 15 February, Abdulaziz was so worn down and injured that he let Saud kill him without a fight. The prince then spent hours on the phone to a mysterious contact in Saudi Arabia trying to decide how to cover up his crime.
Saud also tried to conceal the true nature of his relationship with his servant, claiming they were "friends and equals", but a porter at the hotel said Abdulaziz was treated "like a slave".
The prince claimed he was heterosexual and had a girlfriend in Saudi Arabia, but he had booked appointments with at least two male escorts and one gay masseur, and looked at hundreds of images of men on gay websites. Photographs of Abdulaziz in "compromising" positions were found on his phone.
Saud denied killing his servant until shortly before the trial, when he admitted he had caused his death. Jurors rejected a claim by his barrister, John Kelsey-Fry QC, that Saud was guilty only of manslaughter.
His lawyers also failed in a last-ditch attempt to stop details of his encounters with male escorts being revealed during the trial. In a sign of the anxiety about his sexuality becoming public, the prince's legal team initially argued that the legal argument about the escorts should be held behind closed doors.
Kelsey-Fry said Saud had already faced abuse from Islamic fundamentalists being held alongside him in prison. The court heard that homosexuality remains a capital offence in Saudi Arabia, and the country in which the acts take place has little relevance to prosecution under the country's sharia law. If he ever returns there, Saud faces the possibility of execution. He could seek asylum in Britain when he is eventually released.
The judge said Saud had killed his servant in "a sustained and ferocious assault" and Abdulaziz was a "vulnerable victim entirely subjugated to your will". Saud had treated his victim "as a human punchbag" and had never shown any regret for what had happened.
"If you had any remorse you would have sought medical help immediately. But you were only concerned for yourself," said the judge.
UK court sentences Saudi prince to at least 20 years for murder | AP Nation / World - The News Tribune
LONDON - A British court has sentenced a Saudi prince to at least 20 years in prison for beating and strangling one of his servants at a swank British hotel.
UK court sentences Saudi prince to at least 20 years for murder
In this handout image issued by the Metropolitan Police, Bandar Abdulaziz,a servant who was killed by Saudi Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud. A Saudi prince has been convicted in Britain of murdering a servant. A jury in London's Old Bailey criminal court, on Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010, found Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud guilty of murdering Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz in a frenzied attack in a hotel. The 34-year-old prince faces a possible life sentence. The jury deliberated just 95 minutes before returning its verdict.
LONDON – A British court has sentenced a Saudi prince to at least 20 years in prison for beating and strangling one of his servants at a swank British hotel.
Justice David Bean sentenced Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud to life in prison with a 20 year minimum for the brutal assault at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb. 15.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw says the prince had abused his aide in the past and that photographs stored on a mobile phone "plainly proved" that there was a "sexual element" to the abuse.
Bean says that while it is unusual for a prince to be a defendant in an murder case, "No one in this country is above the law."
The 34-year-old prince's grandfather is a brother of the current Saudi king.
Saudi Prince Sentenced To At Least 20 Years
Justice David Bean sentenced Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud to life in prison with a 20 year minimum for the brutal assault at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb. 15. The sensational case had featured days of lurid testimony, complete with video images of the shaven-headed prince brutally assaulting his aide, Bandar Abdulaziz, in a hotel elevator.
"No one in this country is above the law," Bean said. "It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the Saudi royal family."
The jury had deliberated just 95 minutes before returning its verdict. The prince was convicted of both murder and a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to the attack in the elevator.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw says the prince had abused his aide in the past and that photographs stored on a mobile phone "plainly proved" that there was a "sexual element" to the abuse.
Al Saud originally told police that he and Abdulaziz had been swigging champagne into the early hours of the morning, and that when he awoke at 3 p.m. he could not rouse Abdulaziz.
Jurors rejected a claim by his defense lawyer John Kelsey-Fry that the prince was guilty only of manslaughter.
