Tell cops what happened on the night my Martine was murdered
Dad’s plea to fugitive suspect
THE father of murdered student Martine Magnussen today begs a millionaire playboy under suspicion to come clean with police.
Petter Magnussen wants answers from Farouk Abdulhak, who fled the UK after Martine, 23, was killed in London 14 years ago.
Speaking from his home in Norway, Petter – pictured with his daughter in a treasured snap – urged Abdulhak: “Hand yourself in and face justice.”
He spoke after British police said they had arrested and bailed a woman in her 60s on suspicion of assisting Abdulhak. After Martine died, he left the UK on a jet owned by his late father, a drinks tycoon who was one of Yemen’s richest men. Abdulhak has spent more than a decade there.
Petter, from Oslo, said: “All I’ve ever wanted from Abdulhak is for him to return voluntarily to the UK to tell the police what happened to Martine that night. He could do that and later become a free man, rather than staying a fugitive in Yemen where he will never have his freedom. That is the very simple demand I have. Go back to the UK, talk to the police, tell them what happened.
“I don’t mind even if he had a prison transfer and served his sentence in Egypt, where he has citizenship.
“If that can lower the barrier to his return so we get closure, where he serves his sentence is not important to me.
“All I want is for him to set foot on British soil again. If you’re harbouring him, hand him over. We’ve tried to make contact with the suspect’s mother. It is part of any parental role to tell your children what is right and wrong. The fact they are a wealthy family doesn’t make them beyond the law.
“That’s a huge international problem.”
Martine and Abdulhak were recorded on CCTV leaving Maddox nightclub in Mayfair on March 14, 2008. She had been celebrating the end of her exams at Regent’s Business School and was to return to Norway that week. Martine stayed at Abdulhak’s flat nearby, but her housemates called her family when she did not return for 24 hours.
They were worried because Abdulhak’s Facebook account was deactivated after he posted the message: “I am home alone.”
Officers found a trail of blood from Martine’s body to Abdulhak’s flat, where there were signs of a struggle. She had been raped and strangled. Scotland Yard is understood to have been in contact with Yemen’s Houthi politicians in a bid to find Abdulhak, now 35 and married with a family. Petter said: “The Houthi have said they would like to see him caught or go on trial in Yemen. Not to challenge the Yemeni constitution, that is not acceptable for the British authorities or me. But the discussions continue.”
Petter has previously claimed: “We have people who have spoken to the suspect in the capital Sanaa. He broke down and started to cry. He admitted his involvement. He said because of his love for Martine he was considering coming back to the UK – but he later pulled back on that and it became a stalemate.”
An inquest in 2010 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
All I’ve ever wanted is for him to set foot on British soil again so that we can get closure
PETTER MAGNUSSEN FATHER OF MURDERED STUDENT MARTINE