Saudi Prince admits killing servant - CCTV footage of Landmark Hotel attack

Published: 08 October 2010
by DAVID ST GEORGE

JURORS yesterday (Thursday) watched CCTV footage allegedly showing a royal family member attacking a manservant at the Landmark Hotel, Marylebone Road, where they had a suite.

The “fists and feet” assault was followed by murder, it was claimed by the prosecution at the Old Bailey.

On trial is a Saudi, Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, 34, grandson of the billionaire king of Saudi Arabia.

He denies the murder – and causing grievous bodily harm three weeks earlier to – Bandar Abdulaziz, 32. 

But he admits the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The prince, who denies being gay, had a sexual relationship with his “slave” victim, it is claimed.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC said: “The evidence establishes quite conclusively that the prince is either gay or that he has homosexual tendencies.”

He added: “There was also a sexual element to his mistreatment of the victim.”

Mr Abdulaziz suffered fatal injuries to his head, neck and back, and also “sexual” bite marks to his face in February in the third floor apartment he shared with the prince.

The suite was hurriedly cleaned by the defendant who then called police and said the victim died from injuries he received in a street mugging three weeks earlier.

The date he gave for the robbery coincided with “a really nasty assault” caught on CCTV as the two men were in the hotel life, said Crown counsel.

The trial continues.