Man sentenced to over 6 years in prison for robbery at knifepoint

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation upheld an October Amman Appeals Court (AAC) ruling, sentencing a man to over six years in prison after convicting him of robbing a taxi driver at knifepoint in Amman in December 2019.

The court declared the defendants guilty of robbing a taxi driver of JD400 on December 16 and handed him a 10-year prison term.

However, the AAC decided to reduce the sentence to six years and eight months because the victim dropped charges against the defendant.

Court papers said the defendant pulled over the taxi driver asking him for a ride.

“The victim sat in the back seat and shortly afterward drew a knife and threatened the victim with it,” court papers said.

"The victim handed the defendant JD400, and the latter took the cash and fled the scene," court papers said.

The defendant, through his lawyer, contested the court’s ruling arguing that the “prosecution failed to provide solid evidence to implicate the defendant”, according to court documents.

However, the higher court ruled that the AAC followed the proper procedures and the defendant deserved the verdict he had received.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Nayef Samarat, Yassin Abdullat, Hammad Ghzawi and Qassem Dughmi.