Court upholds 10-year sentence for wedding shooting

AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a 10-year sentence for a man convicted of shooting and killing a child and injuring another at a wedding in Irbid. 

The Criminal Court initially sentenced the defendant to 20 years in prison for the manslaughter and attempted murder of two children at a wedding on August 12, 2015. 

The Criminal Court tribunal reduced the sentence to 10 years because the victims’ families dropped charges against the defendant. 

The court said that the defendant attended the wedding and fired a gun to celebrate the event, where he also shot the two children. 

The defendant contested the Criminal Court ruling and said that the death was accidental.

However, the higher court ruled that it considered the incident manslaughter “because the defendant knew the dangers that might occur from using live ammunition and that he could kill anyone in the process”.

Therefore, the Cassation Court maintained, “the Criminal Court ruling was sufficient and the defendant got what he deserved for his actions”.

The Cassation Court, which issued the verdict recently, was comprised of justices Mahmoud Ababneh, Basel Abu Anzeh, Mohammad Ibrahim, Yassin Abdullat and Bassem Mubeidin.