DUBAI // Senior members of the UAE leadership have met the family of the three Emirati sisters who were injured in a hammer attack in their London hotel room.
A special delegation from Abu Dhabi Police has also been sent to the UK to provide psychological support to the victims and coordinate with British detectives, reported the government news agency, Wam.
“As part of the attention the leadership gives to nationals both in the UAE and overseas, the Embassy has promptly moved on orders from Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Foreign Minister, to provide all it takes to the family and its members who are in the British capital, to help them and provide a safe residence for them in London until the investigation into the case is over,” said Abdulrahman Ghanim Al Mutaiwi, the UAE Ambassador to the UK.
“The accident received the attention of the leadership and all sectors in UAE.
“Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, has dispatched a team from Abu Dhabi Police which provided psychological support to the victims, and ordered coordination with the British police on arresting the suspects and bringing them to justice as soon as possible.”
The mother of the victims was also visited at her home by Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa, adviser to the President, who was accompanied by Sheikh Marwan bin Rashid, Chairman of the Lands and Property Department in Umm Al Quwain.
She had earlier been visited by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Sultan.
Mr Al Mutaiwi said the highest levels of the British authorities were giving their attention to the case, and that the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and his British counterpart had directly followed up on the issue.
He added that during his visits to the hospital where the women were being treated, family members expressed their appreciation to the UAE leadership, and the Foreign Minister in particular, for their support.
They also expressed their gratitude in the interest of sheikhs and senior officials in visiting them, said Wam.
The women were attacked between 1am and 2am last Sunday in their room at the four-star Cumberland Hotel, near Marble Arch in the city’s West End.
Ohoud lost an eye in the attack and remains in critical condition. Khuloud, 36, suffered two fractures to the skull, a broken left arm and a fractured cheekbone and will undergo surgery this week. The third victim, Fatima, 31, has a fractured skull and a ruptured left eardrum.
She was discharged from hospital on Tuesday but was readmitted suffering from severe head pains.
Three children asleep in an adjoining room were unharmed.
It is thought the women left their door unlocked because they were staying in the hotel as part of a large family group.
Property worth more than Dh6,000 was taken in the attack and about £3,000 (Dh18,400) was withdrawn using one of the victim’s bank cards.
Three people appeared in court in London on Saturday in connection with the attack. Philip Spence, 32, from Hounslow in west London, is charged with three counts of attempted murder and one of aggravated burglary.
Thomas Efremi, 56, from Islington in north London, is charged with handling stolen goods and fraud by false representation, and James Moss, 33, from Finsbury Park in north London, is charged with handling stolen goods.
All three were remanded in custody and will appear at Southwark Crown Court on April 17.
Carly Baker, 31, from Finsbury Park, is charged with handling stolen goods and was bailed to appear in court on Tuesday. A 34-year-old man was bailed pending further inquiries. All are British nationals.
nhanif@thenational.ae
* As a result of an editing error, the names of two of the three Emirati sisters attacked at the Cumberland Hotel in London were transposed in an earlier version of this article. Ohoud Al Najjar, 34, the middle daughter is in a coma, not Khuloud Al Najjar.