A man who savagely beat three sisters in a “sustained and vicious” hammer attack as they slept with their young children in a luxury London hotel has been found guilty of attempted murder.
Philip Spence, 32, bludgeoned the three female tourists from the United Arab Emirates in the four-star Cumberland hotel and left them for dead, The Guardian reported.
Spence fled the scene with a suitcase stuffed with iPads, gold jewellery and mobile phones, and dumped the claw hammer just outside the central London hotel.
One of his victims, Ohoud Al-Najjar, 34, was repeatedly hit with such force that her skull split open as her nine-year-old nephew cowered under the sheets next to her, prosecutor Simon Mayo QC said. She survived the attack, but was left with just 5% brain function. She can no longer speak and has lost one eye.
Her sisters Khulood, 36, and Fatima, 31, were both also left with life-threatening injuries and are still receiving medical treatment.
Spence admitted the attack, which took place early on 6 April, but denied three counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary. A jury of seven women and five men at Southwark crown in London found him guilty after a day of deliberation.
Spence, from near Harlesden, north-west London, stared straight ahead impassively as the verdicts were read out. He faces a life term in prison.