Man sentenced to life for British woman's murder in Dubai is cleared

Man sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 2011 murder of a British woman in Bur Dubai is acquitted by the Appeals Court.

DUBAI // A man sentenced to life in jail for taking part in the killing and robbery of a British mother-of-three in Bur Dubai was yesterday cleared by the Appeals Court.

M?M, 25, from Syria, was convicted in November by the Criminal Court, which ruled he was partly responsible for the woman’s death by urging his flatmate and compatriot, M?K, to stab Maria McClymont, 50, and steal her jewellery.

His flatmate, who was in a relationship with the woman, fled to Syria after the killing and was jailed after admitting to investigators in his home country that he stabbed her to death.

However, M?K also claimed he killed the woman only upon the advice of his friend, who had been trying to convince her to pay Dh40,000 to assist the Syrian men in an investment.

When she refused, claimed the killer, M?M urged him to kill her and to steal her valuables and credit cards instead. He said he stole some gold from the woman’s apartment and handed it to M?M to sell to two other men.

M?M told the Criminal Court at his original trial that he was guilty only of staying on after his visa expired. That court ruled against him, but yesterday the Appeals Court accepted his claim.

Both courts found two other men, W?M, 30, from Syria, and Y?H, 27, from Jordan, not guilty of being in possession of the gold stolen by the killer.

Three co-workers found Ms McClymont’s body nearly naked in a pool of blood in her Golden Sands 2 apartment days after she failed to report to work at a nearby hotel where she worked.

The Scottish divorcee met her killer at a nightclub before becoming involved in a relationship with him.

Between May 20 to May 23, 2011, he tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to drug her with sleeping pills. After his final attempt failed, he lost his temper and stabbed her with a knife from her kitchen.

He said that after he had done so, she stood up and pulled the knife out of her chest, then fell to the ground uttering words in English that he did not understand.