LONDON — A Saudi prince was convicted yesterday in the death of one of his servants in a frenzied attack in a hotel.
A jury in London’s Old Bailey criminal court found Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud guilty of murdering Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb. 15.
The 34-year-old prince, whose grandfather is a brother of the current Saudi king, faces a possible life term when he is sentenced today.
The jury deliberated for 95 minutes before returning its verdict.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said the prince had abused his aide in the past, showing jurors video shot in the Landmark’s elevator that appears to show the shaven-headed prince, dressed in white, throwing his 32-year-old servant around and battering him. Photographs of Abdulaziz stored on a mobile phone “plainly proved’’ that there was a “sexual element’’ to the abuse, Laidlaw said.
Saud originally told police that he and Abdulaziz had been drinking into the early hours of the morning and that when he awoke at 3 p.m. he could not rouse Abdulaziz.
Jurors rejected a claim by his defense lawyer, John Kelsey-Fry, that the prince was guilty only of manslaughter. The prince was convicted of both murder and a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent.
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