Ex-manager faces 10 years for shooting female boxer

The step-father and ex-manager of a top female boxer faces 10 years in prison after shooting her in the hand and legs just before a world title fight, as his trial began here Tuesday. Former world champion Rola El-Halabi, 26, was shot in her changing room by her 44-year-old step-father, who has been identified only as Roy E, just before she was due to fight in Berlin on April 1. He is charged with aggravated assault and attempted grievous bodily harm. On the first day of his trial, Berlin's regional court heard how he went to the trotting track in Karlshorst in a suburb of the German capital, originally to pick up his son. He has admitted that he shot his step-daughter after an altercation with security guards at the stadium just before lightweight El-Halabi, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, was due to fight Bosnia's Irma Adler in an IBF world title fight. El-Halabi told the court how she had found her step-father to be a difficult man. She described how she was hit by four shots that were aimed at her hand, knee and both feet before the accused also shot the security guards, who later recovered. After the attack, El-Halabi spent several weeks in a wheelchair and has had several operations on her hands and feet. The background to the shooting was a private dispute between the boxer and her step-father, after his contract to manage her was terminated in January. The trial is scheduled to last five days and a verdict is expected to be delivered at the end of October.