A man who savagely beat three sisters in a “sustained and vicious” hammer attack as they slept with their young children in a luxury London hotel has been found guilty of attempted murder.
Philip Spence, 32, bludgeoned the three female tourists from the United Arab Emirates in the four-star Cumberland hotel and left them for dead.
Spence fled the scene with a suitcase stuffed with iPads, gold jewellery and mobile phones, and dumped the claw hammer just outside the central London hotel.
One of his victims, Ohoud Al-Najjar, 34, was repeatedly hit with such force that her skull split open as her nine-year-old nephew cowered under the sheets next to her, prosecutor Simon Mayo QC said. She survived the attack, but was left with just 5% brain function. She can no longer speak and has lost one eye.
Her sisters Khulood, 36, and Fatima, 31, were both also left with life-threatening injuries and are still receiving medical treatment.
Spence admitted the attack, which took place early on 6 April, but denied three counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary. A jury of seven women and five men at Southwark crown in London found him guilty after a day of deliberation.
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Spence, from near Harlesden, north-west London, stared straight ahead impassively as the verdicts were read out. He faces a life term in prison.
Judge Anthony Leonard QC said: “The sentence I will have to consider is a full life term.”
He added: “You, Mr Spence, must realise that any sentence I impose is bound to be a very substantial sentence, subject to the report I receive.”
The judge also thanked the jury for their time in considering “what must have been an unpleasant case for you”.
Opening the proceedings, Mayo had told jurors: “Each woman was struck repeatedly to the head by a man wielding a claw hammer – their skulls fracturing and splintering under the onslaught. The intention of their attacker, say the prosecution, was to kill them.
“The scene that met the eyes of the police and emergency services as they arrived in the aftermath was, in the words of one of those attending, horrific,” said Leonard.
Neofitos “Thomas” Efremi, 57, from Islington, north London, was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.
After the verdict was read out Efremi, who walks with a crutch, began pacing around the dock after Spence was escorted out and said to the dock officer: “I’ll kill him. He stitched me up.”
Jurors heard that the women had left their hotel rooms unlocked on the night of the attack to allow a fourth sister to return later in the night.
But Spence, a drug addict, crept in and was seen by Khulood rifling through handbags shortly before 1.30am.
He attacked Khulood as she slept next to her two young daughters, and then turned his hammer on her sister Fatima, leaving them both unconscious. But the savagery” of his attack on Ohoud outstripped what was meted out to her sisters. Her skull was smashed so badly that brain tissue spilled out from a hole in her head.
The fourth sister Sheika Al-Mheiri returned later that night and discovered her sisters lying injured on the floor with blood spattered on the walls.
The two men were remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 17 November at Southwark crown court.
A pre-sentence report will be carried out for Spence.
Metropolitan police commander Mak Chishty said Spence’s brutal attack had “changed the lives of a family forever”.
But he sought to reassure people living in the Middle East that London was a safe city to visit, amid fears the attack may have put off potential tourists.
Chishty said: “It is unimaginable the terror they must have felt when they woke to find him in their room. The level of violence Spence chose to use was extraordinary, and completely unnecessary for him to steal, as he had set out to do that night.”
He continued: “Our thoughts remain with the women he injured and nearly killed, and their families. Whilst his conviction will change little for them, it may go some way to helping them deal with the events of that night.
“I would like to pay tribute to them and the courage and fortitude they showed in giving evidence to the court and the support they and their representative have shown the Met during the investigation.”
He added: “The ramifications of this incident were felt across London, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other major cities across the world, feeling shocked and outraged and understandably frightened.
“I would like to give reassurance that an incident of this nature is thankfully very, very rare and the victims were not specifically targeted, followed or attacked because they are from the UAE.”
