A man working as a servant for a Saudi prince apparently died without putting up a fight after allegedly being beaten and strangled by the prince, the IrishTimes.com reports.
Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser is accused of murdering Bandar Abdulaziz at a London hotel room in February.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC said the prince abused Bandar Abdulaziz in a “master-servant” relationship.
“So worn down by the violence, so subservient and submissive had Bandar become that he was incapable of any effective resistance.
“He was killed without apparently ever having fought back because the defendant was completely unharmed, without any mark at all, when he was examined at the police station. Bandar appears to have let the defendant kill him,” said Laidlaw to jurors.
Saud Abdulaziz denies murdering his servant as well as a second charge of grievous bodily harm with intent, regarding an earlier alleged attack in a hotel elevator.
Others in the courtroom explained that the two men were “good friends,” and witnesses described the defendant as being “polite” and “well-mannered.”
However, in his closing speech, Laidlaw said the case shows “how misleading some outward appearances can be.”
“Beneath the surface this was a deeply abusive relationship which the defendant exploited, as the assaults in the lift so graphically demonstrate, for sadistic reasons, for his own personal gratification.
“The abuse extended beyond physical abuse. There was plainly an emotional element and psychological element to it.” Those who had seen the victim described “how frightened he looked, how fragile he appeared, how timid he seemed”, said Laidlaw.
Laidlaw said that photographs of Mr. Abdulaziz stored on a cell phone “plainly proved” that there was a “sexual element” to the abuse.
