British editor of Gulf News in Dubai to serve 15 years for killing wife

Prosecution and convicted man had both appealed against his earlier sentence of 10 years behind bars

By AP 7 October 2018, 11:31 am

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View of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 29, 2018. (Aijaz Rahi/AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A British former newspaper editor in Dubai who was convicted of killing his wife with a hammer has had his sentence extended to 15 years.

Francis Matthew was found guilty in March of bludgeoning his wife to death at their home and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The latest verdict was announced Sunday after both sides had appealed.

The former editor of the English-language Gulf News had faced the possibility of the death penalty over the July 2017 killing of Jane Matthew, his wife of over 30 years. Matthew and his wife were prominent members of the UAE’s large British expatriate community.

Peter Manning, Jane’s brother, welcomed the ruling, saying the lesser sentence would have been a “terrible injustice.”