Robbery spree lands 3 men in jail

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld an October State Security Court (SSC) ruling, sentencing three men to 12 years in prison each after convicting them of robbing pharmacies and gas stations in Amman in November 2018.

The court declared the defendants guilty of forming a gang to rob establishments and handed them 10-year prison terms each.

However, the SSC decided to reduce the sentence to nine years in prison for each of the three defendants “to give them a second chance in life to correct their paths”.

Court papers said the defendants, who were friends, decided to make quick cash by robbing businesses in Amman and rented a vehicle for that purpose.

Their robbery spree began with a gas station on November 3, according to court papers.

“The defendants wore masks and entered the gas station at night armed with guns and wooden sticks,” according to court papers.

The defendants beat up the employee and escaped with JD473.

Their second hit, according to court papers, was a pharmacy in Rasheed neighbourhood on November 7.

Wearing masks, the defendants held the employees at gunpoint and escaped with JD1,087 and a female employee’s purse, court papers said.

The defendants were arrested few days later following a “thorough police investigation and tracking their rented vehicle”, according to court documents.

A special force headed to where the vehicle was located and managed to arrest two of the three defendants, the court added.

“The third defendant jumped into another vehicle in the area and attempted to escape but crashed his car head-on with another vehicle and was immediately arrested,” the court papers said.  

No one was injured in the incident, the court added.

The defendants, through their lawyer, contested the court’s ruling arguing that the “court overlooked some evidence provided by the defence”.

“The prosecution witnesses failed to prove that the defendants formed a gang to rob entities and some of our clients were subjected to duress in order to confess,” the lawyer charged.

However, the higher court ruled that the Criminal Court followed the proper procedures and the defendants deserved the verdict they had received.

“The defendants terrorised the community by their robberies that were carried out at and involved weapons and blunt objects,” the higher court stated.

Their actions were harmful to the security of the community and, therefore, they deserve the punishment they had received, the higher court ruled.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Fawzi Nahar, Majid Azab, Hayel Amr and Saeed Mugheid.