Gay Saudi prince convicted of murder will return home to serve his sentence
A gay Saudi Arabian prince who was jailed for life in Britain for murdering his servant is to be sent back to his home country, sources within the British government confirmed on Tuesday.
The court had heard that Prince Saud subjected his servant, Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz to a “sadistic” campaign of violence and sexual abuse before murdering him after a “brutal” assault.
Government sources confirmed to the Telegraph yesterday that Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary, had approved the prince’s transfer to a jail in Saudi Arabia.
The date of his transfer had not been confirmed, but he was expected to fly home in the coming weeks.
During the trial, the Old Bailey heard that the attack had a “sexual” element and that Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family, had abused his servant before.
CCTV from a hotel lift showed the prince kicking and hitting Mr Abdulaziz shortly before his death, while the servant was found to have suffered multiple injuries, including bites to his face.
Jurors found Saud guilty of murder and a second count of grievous bodily harm.
It was also revealed that Prince Saud tried to hide the fact he was gay from the court, however the jury was told that he had ordered gay escorts in London, had looked at websites for gay massage parlours and escort agencies.
Lawyers on behalf of Prince Saud have argued that he could face the death penalty after revelations about his homosexuality during his trial.
Prince Saud is one of eleven Saudi citizens in British jails, eligible to be transferred home.
The Ministry of Justice said it did not comment on individual prison transfer cases, and a spokesperson added: “We have a prison transfer arrangement with Saudi Arabia which allows nationals of either country to serve their prison sentence in their home state.”
The judge had declared he had used Mr Abdulaziz, originally from Sudan, as a “human punch bag”. After the attack, the prince ordered two glasses of milk and some water.
He dragged the corpse into the bed and tried to clean up his blood.
