Accused murderer Ibrahim Al Ahmad attends court again from hospital bed
Al Ahmad is charged with kidnapping and murdering a woman March 5
Ibrahim Al Ahmad, accused of kidnapping and murdering a woman in St. John’s March 5, returned to provincial court for another brief appearance by phone Monday, but said nothing.
Al Ahmad attended court from hospital, as he did for his first court appearance last Thursday, where he is being held in custody and accompanied by correctional staff as he recovers from reported selfinflicted wounds. An Arabic translator was on hand to ensure Al Ahmad understood the proceedings.
Sources say Al Ahmad’s injuries include a damaged larynx. During last week’s court proceedings, heavy breathing could be heard through the phone.
After repeating his name several times Monday, the correctional officer in the hospital room with Al Ahmad told the court Al Ahmad was not responding.
Duty counsel Dan Furey said Al Ahmad had not yet spoken with a lawyer. Provincial Court Associate Chief Judge Jennifer Mercer postponed the matter until Tuesday afternoon to allow more time for Al Ahmad to meet with counsel.
The identity of the homicide victim is protected by a publication ban that was put in place in late January, while she was alive.
Al Ahmad was arrested Jan. 23 and granted bail three days later on multiple charges of violence against the woman and others: seven counts of assault with a weapon, four counts of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, and one count each of assault causing bodily harm by choking, assault and forcible confinement. The Crown had been opposed to his release.
He was also granted bail in December, after the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary arrested him for threatening the woman and assaulting her with a weapon.
Along with his first-degree murder and kidnapping charges, Al Ahmad is charged with two breaches of a court order, in particular that he have no contact with the woman and several others, and that he not carry a concealed knife.
The RNC says the woman was last seen alive on Middleton Street in Virginia Park between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. March 5. Officers located her body in an abandoned home on Liam Street in Logy Baymiddle Cove-outer Cove, about five kilometres away, about an hour-and-a-half later.
A blue, four-door Hyundai Elantra, believed to be connected to Al Ahmad, was parked outside the home, and last week police issued a public appeal for video footage of the car travelling from Middleton Street to Liam Drive.