The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Murder suspect ‘coward’
Justice: ‘Playboy’ wanted over death of Norwegian urged to return to Britain
“The plans he was making can never be realised”
A billionaire playboy wanted over the murder of a Norwegian woman in London has been branded a “coward” by detectives calling for him to return to the UK.
Farouk Abdulhak, now 33, fled the country hours after Martine Vik Magnussen was killed, travelling to Egypt and on to Yemen.
The 23-year-old student was strangled after she went out to celebrate her end-of-term exams at Mayfair’s Maddox nightclub in 2008.
Her partially-concealed body was found in rubble in the basement of flats in Great Portland Street in central London on March 16 2008.
A post-mortem examination gave her cause of death as compression to the neck.
She had also been raped and an inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court in 2010 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
Ms Vik Magnussen was last seen with Abdulhak – son of billionaire sugar magnate Shaher Abdulhak – as the pair left the nightclub in the early hours of March 14.
They both studied international business relations at the private
Regent’s Business School in Regent’s Park.
Abdulhak remains the only suspect and Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “It must be clear to Farouk Abdulhak, the person sought in connection with Martine’s murder, that this matter is not going to go away and that his status as a wanted man will remain.
“The dignity, resolve and courage shown by the Magnussen family over the past 12 years has been in stark contrast to the conduct of Abdulhak.
“He has chosen to flee, chosen to hide, hoping this matter would all go away – the actions of a coward.
“It must be clear to him now, 12 years later, that the studies he embarked upon in the UK, the plans he was making for his future, can never be realised while this matter is unresolved.
“I would appeal for him to return to the UK to assist this investigation. I appeal for anyone who has contact with Abdulhak to make him see sense and to advise him to return to the UK.
“He can never have a normal life while remaining wanted and in hiding.”