Philip Spence, 32, is facing a three-count charge for aggravated attack on three sisters; Ohoud Al-Najjar, Khulood Al-Najjar and Fatima Al-Najjar, who were hammered on the head while sleeping in their hotel rooms in London earlier this year.
One of the sisters was hit with such force that her skull was split open while her sibling watched in utter shock and in the pool of their own blood
The suspect, Philips admitted that he was involved in the attack at the four stars Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch but denied the allegation that he attempted to murder the sisters.
The prosecutor, Simon Mayo QC told jury that the sisters, who were from the United Arab Emirates, were sharing adjoining rooms in the hotel while on a family holiday when they were beaten in a “vicious and sustained” attack and left for dead.
The paramedic who attended the scene said Ohoud must have been hit with “incredible force” while a forensic scientific expert concluded that she was hit at least three times after she started bleeding.
The sisters underwent emergency neurosurgery to reconstruct their skull as one of them had her left eyeball removed.
Mr Mayo said an expert forensic pathologist found all three suffered life-threatening injuries and it was only through the skill of the surgeons that they each survived.
“Each woman was struck repeatedly to the head by a man wielding a claw hammer – their skulls fracturing and splintering under the onslaught”. He submitted that the intention of their attacker was to kill them.
“The scene that met the eyes of the police and emergency services as they arrived at the scene in the aftermath was, in the words, of one of those attending, ‘horrific’.”
The accused, who hailed from Abbeyfields Close near Harlesden in northwest London, is reported to have planned the attack long before the ladies checked into the hotel rooms with his partner in crime Thomas Efremi, 57, from Upper Handa Walk in Islington, north London, who also denies conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.
Mr Mayo told the court: “It is almost impossible to imagine the terror that must have seized these poor women as they were confronted in the darkness of their room by Philip Spence wielding that claw hammer.
Spence, after unleashing terror on these sisters, carted away a suitcase of valuables and it was not until the fourth sister, Sheika Al-Mheiri returned that she discovered the bloody scene. The hammer was found discarded on a window sill on a stairwell in the hotel.
