Horrific injuries of Emirati hotel hammer attack victim

The Cumberland Hotel in London where three Emirati women were brutally attacked in their hotel room by an intruder wielding a hammer. AFP

ABU DHABI // One of three Emirati sisters attacked in their London hotel room by a man wielding a hammer has lost her left eye and has only 5 per cent brain function.

Ohoud Al Najjar, 34, remains in a critical condition in hospital a week after the attack in the early hours of last Sunday.

Her sister, Khuloud, 36, suffered two fractures to the skull, a broken left arm and a fractured cheekbone. She 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.

Ohoud “suffered life-threatening head and facial injuries and has lost her left eye and significant quantities of blood”, Det Insp Adam Ghaboos of the Metropolitan Police said on Saturday.

“Doctors have assessed that she has 5 per cent brain function, although her other organs are in good working function.”

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, has been charged with handling stolen goods and bailed to appear in court on Tuesday. A 34-year-old man has been bailed to return pending further inquiries on a date in May. All are British nationals.

The three sisters were attacked in their room at the four-star Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch in London’s West End between 1am and 2am last Sunday. Three children were asleep in an adjoining room during the attack, but they 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 £1,000 (Dh6,000) was taken in the attack and withdrawals totalling £3,000 were made on one of the victims’ bank cards.

The Cumberland Hotel is one of London’s largest. It has more than 1,000 rooms, six restaurants and 26 conference rooms. It was built in the 1930s.

* Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

* 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.